Sharing Coffee With Captain Rogers
by koolgirl1120
Summary: Steve and Tania are living happily ever after - well, as happily ever after as a team of super heroes who constantly fight crime can be. A recent string of murder attacks on Tania's life causes the Avengers to go into a panic and immediately start an investigation. Could this be a repercussion of what happened with HYDRA in 1945? They're about to find out. Coffee With You number 3
1. Prologue - Timeline

**Sharing Coffee With Captain Rogers**

**A/N. Hii! :D I'm back! Welcome to the 3rd installment of Sitting At A Coffee Shop With Captain America, easier known as the Coffee With You trilogy. So here's the prologue which is written in timeline form because this story takes places AFTER Iron Man 3, and the last story took place in september (sort of). So this is basically how I'm going to tell you what happened in between the last story and the beginning of this one, including what the Avengers were doing during IM3. If the descirptions don't offer up enough details for you, you can request that I add it in as a flashback somewhere and I'll see what I can do. :) Some events have snippets of story-type retelling of the events because I had those actual scenes in my head when I thought about what was happening. Also, I will NOT be making a Graham/Darcy spin-off, however I will be putting a little bit of that in here. Peter Parker will also make a triumphant return to the big screen (or not, depending on the size of your monitor :P) in a small but crucial role. And to anyone who wonders, Betty to me will always be Liv Tyler and Bruce will always be Mark Ruffalo. That might not make sense to some of you, but it does to me :) I suggest to those of you who have NOT read by previous stories to please go back and read those first as this will most likely not make sense without them. If you want to skip the timeline, I don't recommend it either as some of these events are vital to the story line. If this timeline doesn't hook you in, hang in there until the first chapter. It's going to be Bruce and Betty's wedding! So thank you for clicking on my story and I hope you enjoy :D**

**One last thing, I will be working on trailer scripts for this story too so keep an eye on my profile for that ;)**

**Disclaimer - I don't own the Avengers, I am merely using them because they are awesome XD**

**PROLOGUE – Timeline**

**September 5****th**** – **Time travel

**September 6****th**** –** Morning After:

_ Tania and Steve yawned as they waited for the elevator to take them down to the kitchen. They hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, but neither regretted it. In fact, the only reason they were up this early at all was because they were too excited to see the Avengers again. It had been too long. Of course, for their teammates it had only been a matter of hours._

_ The couple had mutually decided not to reveal their time traveling quest to the others. At least not today. Today, they just wanted everything to go back to their normal._

_ Hands clasped, the doors opened and they strode into the kitchen. Luck must have been on their side: everyone was there at seven thirty in the morning except for Tony and Pepper. Usually, half the team didn't start trickling down until eight._

_ Stania stood in the doorway for a second to take it all in with giant smiles on their faces. It was good to be home. They walked further inside and sat down at the two chairs left at the table, still hand in hand._

_ "Good mor-" Natasha started as she walked over from the coffee machine to the table, only to drop her mug in shock. It shattered to the ground at her feet but she didn't even flinch. She stared at the couple unblinkingly as everyone now stared at her._

_ "Nat?" Clint called. He put a hand on her shoulder and followed her gaze to Steve and Tania. "Oh my God." Being both master assassins, they were both very observant – especially with body language and facial expressions. Steve and Tania's both said it all._

_ The two in question shared a worried look. Had they altered the future? Did they not remember them? Had they gone forward to the wrong point in time? _

_ At that moment, the elevator doors opened once again to reveal Tony talking to Pepper in midsentence. "And so I said-"he turned to Steve and Tania, "Oh my God you two had sex." His voice was so shocked and under exaggerated that it had a way of making it all the more emphasizing. He pointed his index finger at the two of them and wagged it back and forth._

_ Tania buried her face in her hands and blushed so hard she thought she might implode. Steve sunk lower and lower into his seat as his entire body started turning a deep shade of red. This was the most embarrassed the two of them had ever been. Of course _Tony_ would be the one to pick it up; having been a playboy he distinctly knew the smell and look of sex and lost virginity when he witnessed it._

_ Bruce did a spit take. Thor choked on his food. Clint and Natasha remained frozen among the broken shards of her mug. Pepper was gaping at them. Graham was glaring at Steve with daggers in his eyes. Happy looked embarrassed _for_ them. Tony just stared in disbelief._

_ This was not how Tania had pictured her first morning back._

**September 11****th**** – **Graham and his girlfriend Sammi break up. She met someone else in Portugal apparently.

**September 15****th**** –** Clint's birthday: they played laser tag most of the day. He won (obviously) closely followed by Natasha, Steve, Tony, Happy, Bruce, Tania, Graham, and Thor in that order.

**September 20****th** – Group mission: they came across a school shooting by accident and dove in to help. Tania was with them and therefore came along. The press caught word of her "singing powers" and has been also trying to come up with a superhero name ever since.

**September 21****st**** – **The Avengers attend an assembly for the students, staff, and parents of the school and give speeches. It is part funeral for all those who died the day before, all those they couldn't save.

**September 22****nd**** – **Return to NYC after the Malibu vacation. Tony and Pepper elect to stay in the mansion for SI duties. Betty moves into the Tower with the others.

**September 24****th**** – **Peter Parker joins SHIELD.

* * *

**October 2****nd**** – **Graham's birthday: As a present, Tony offers him Tania's old floor (she no longer uses it and has "moved in" onto Steve's floor). He accepts but continued to attend University across town. Tony hires Happy take him there every morning and back every afternoon.

**October 10****th**** – **Tania travels back to Malibu with Graham in tow for the book signing of Tony's biography on its publish date. Peter and the author tag along as well to make up the panel. To her surprise, people want Tania's autograph too because of her place in the Avengers.

**October 12****th**** – **Tania, Graham, and Peter return to NYC.

**October 19****th** – Steve and Natasha go on a mission from SHIELD.

**October 20****th**** – **Thor leaves for Asgard.

**October 26****th**** – **Steve and Natasha return from mission. Both are somewhat depressed. Tania cheers him up by pulling out Les Misérables (which they finished reading the forties) and the two cuddle up and read it together. Natasha, also depressed, spends time in the gym. Tania goes to see if she can give her a pep talk. It kind of works but after her spiel, Nat reveals that Clint has already made her feel better and that it wasn't necessary. However she also confessed that she is grateful for her efforts.

**October 31****st**** – **Tony and Pepper organize a Halloween charity party on the lobby floor of the Tower for homeless children, although they themselves could not attend, seeing as they are in Malibu. The other Avengers (mainly Tania and Rhodey) host the costume party. Tania dressed up as her rumoured Super Hero counterpart for the fun of it but stands by her decision to NOT become a super hero or sidekick. The press decides that her name will be Sonata, despite her not wanting a name at all. Pepper is given the name Rescue.

* * *

**November 12****th**** – **Both Pepper and Tony return to NYC for Pepper's birthday. The girls spend the day wedding dress shopping for Betty (which she assures everyone is what she wanted).

**November 13****th**** – **Pepperony return to Malibu to finish up more business.

**November 16****th**** - **The Avengers have a group interview (minus Thor and Tony) with a magazine reporter.

**November 20****th**** – **Thor returns from Asgard.

**November 22****nd**** – **Thanksgiving is celebrated together – Clint makes dinner and the Avengers video chat with Tony and Pepper.

**November 23****rd**** – **Clint and Natasha go to the helicarrier to receive briefing for mission. Fury seems extra grumpy so the two agents use JARVIS to hack into the systems and find out why. Turns out it's Fury's birthday. They share a smile but he swears that if they ever reveal anything he will kill them both on the spot. They nod. A cake manages to somehow sneak its way into his office later that day.

**November 30****th** – Bruce proposes for REAL to Betty on top of the Tower on the balcony. He gives her a real ring.

* * *

**December 5****th**** – **Thor's birthday: he decides that they should all go to the amusement park (which Jane told him about) and they spend the day there. It's awesome according to everyone.

**December 11****th**** – **Steve is given a solo mission in California. It doesn't take long and he decides to visit Tony while he's there. The two of them go x-mas shopping.

_ "… and it's just so frustrating! And I mean… Steve?" Tony stopped walking and turned around, realizing that the super soldier was no longer beside him or listening. A few meters back, standing in the hallway of the mall, was Steve. He was staring into the window of a jewellry store so hard that Tony thought the glass would shatter._

_ He slowly made his way towards the display Steve was looking at: engagement rings. A sly grin crept onto his face as he stepped over to his friend. He threw a lazy arm around the Captain's shoulders and started leading him into the store._

_ "Wha-? Tony, what are you-?"_

_ "Don't question it, Cap. We're going in."_

**December 12****th**** –** Steve returns to NYC.

**December 19****th**** – **The Avengers watch news broadcasts of strings of terrorist attacks by someone called, the Mandarin. SHIELD is investigating but so far they have no important intel. Pepper calls later that day to tell them about Happy's condition from the explosion. Fury tells them almost immediately after that they cannot interfere unless given explicit orders from himself to do so. They grumble and are not happy.

**December 20****th**** – **The Avengers watch Tony's televised threat to the Mandarin as well as reveal his home address. The all agree he's stupid. They also all agree that they are worried as hell and decide to call him – he doesn't answer. During the evening, they figure out why as they watch the mansion fall into the ocean from someone's grainy cell phone video on the news.

**December 21****st**** – **Fury assures them that Pepper is alive and well but that she is incognito and cannot contact them no matter what.

**December 22****nd**** – **Tony is presumed dead. The Avengers refuse to believe so.

**December 23****rd**** – **Pepper is kidnapped. The Avengers panic but listen to Fury when told that is being handled, hinting that Tony is alive without actually saying it.

**December 24****th**** – **Rhodey is also captured. The Avengers panic some more. The passengers of the plane of the President fall from the sky, claiming that Iron Man saved their lives. Avengers gain hope.

**December 25****th**** –** Christmas: In the morning, the Avengers exchange presents although it is tense because of Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey's disappearances.

_ Tania reached for another gift from under the makeshift plastic tree (because SOMEONE *cough* Bruce *cough* was allergic to pine). It was a long rectangular box wrapped in yellow paper with a purple ribbon. It was small, like a jewellery box. She peeled off the wrapping and opened it. She gasped._

_ It was a sterling silver pocket-watch with a circle clock and cover, on which it was engraved, "The Right Partner". She opened it slowly. On the bottom of the cover for the clock was a picture of his shield._

_ Steve then brandished his own golden pocket watch that he clicked open to reveal a picture of a coffee mug and a music note. He told her that he still had the pocket watch with Peggy's picture in it, but he didn't use it. So he got a new one. He brought it closer to hers and they clicked together magnetically. She could not have been happier._

_ She threw her arms around his neck and thanked him a million times over. She couldn't believe how thoughtful the present was. It was so incredibly sweet. She vaguely overheard Pepper jokingly complain that her gift wasn't nearly as thoughtful as Tania's, but she ignored them and remained cuddled into Steve's side for the rest of the morning and sipping her coffee._

_ Her gift to him had been equally as thoughtful, although less useful. She gave him copies of all the movies based on books that they had both read: The Three Musketeers, Les Misérables, The Count of Monte Cristo, etc. They opted to watch it together another time and Tania offered to sing him all the songs from Les Mis once they'd watched the movie. It was always harder shopping for man. There was nothing you could get any man that would be accepted by all. However with women, jewellery almost ALWAYS put you in the good books. With men it was different. Tania hoped he didn't mind that she had only gotten him movies but he simply kissed her head and reassured her that it was the thought that counted. She smiled._

That evening, SHIELD monitors the fight between Tony and Killian but doesn't interfere. The Avengers watch via JARVIS but are too far away to come to Tony's aid.

**December 26****th**** – **President thanks Tony and Rhodey personally at a press conference that is aired on TV – therefore, the Avengers watch. Tony calls said Avengers and says that he will explain everything later.

**December 27****th**** – **Tony undergoes surgery to remove the arc reactor from his chest.

**December 28****th**** – **Tony and pepper return to NYC. Tony tells the entire story to Bruce and the others.

_ "We're sorry. I'm not that kind of doctor. I'm not a therapist. It's not in my training. I- I don't have the-"_

_ "What? The time?"_

_ "The temperament."_

_ "None of us do," Clint piped up as the other Avengers slowly started to wake up too. Tony rolled his eyes._

**December 30****th**– Bruce/ Betty Bachelor/Bachelorette parties(s). Girls = Vegas. Guys = New Orleans

**December 31****st**** – **Bruce and Betty's wedding.

**A/N. If I seem to be focusing a lot on birthdays it's because I gave them all b-days before I wrote HCWSR and as time passes, I feel they should all be celebrated. So anyway, this is what happened between HCWSR and SCWCR so stay tuned for the wedding of the year :D And I'm not just saying that because it's on December 31st xP**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N. Hey. What's up? So one thing: updates may not be as quick as in July, but they should still be often :) At least 2x a week. The bi-weekly ABOSLUTELY NO LATER THAN is still in effect. I'm sorry if this chapter seems all over the place (wow, first chapter and I might be messing it up...) but nothing really ****_happens_****. it's just the wedding XD So I thought it would be a good way to draw people in and hook them - like in a movie I would imagine this as the first scene. I will also post the trailer script for this story on my profile later tonight so go check it out! Please? Last thing: I accidentally titled the story Sharing Coffee With Steve Rogers when it was actually supposed to be Sharing Coffee with CAPTAIN Rogers, so my apologies, it has been fixed. Without further ado, I welcome you to my story. Enjoy the ride :D**

**Disclaimer - I do NOT own the Avengers or any of their separate movies. This is also something I should have mentioned earlier but THIS STORY WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR IRON MAN 3! If you didn't get that from the previous chapter already. Anyway, continue.**

CHAPTER I

Tania smoothed out the ruffles in Betty's wedding dress hastily. Pepper, Jane, and Natasha also fussed over Betty's veil, dress, bouquet, hair, and makeup. The bride was a bundle of frayed nerves. The poor thing was jittering so hard that her teeth chattering could be felt through the vibrations of her dress. Tony had compared her to a bunch of wires that had been cut with a serrated knife and was sparking before having several bouquets of flowers thrown at him in order to shoo him away.

"Betty, hun, deep breaths," Pepper encouraged, grabbing the brunette's arms firmly and staring into her eyes. The two of them inhaled and exhaled together. "In with the love for Bruce, out with the cold feet."

Betty laughed breathily. "That doesn't even make any sense."

Pepper smiled. "But it's working."

"Something borrowed?" Tania checked. As one of the bridesmaids and practically the unofficial wedding planner, the Captain's girlfriend had taken it upon herself to organize things. She liked things organized. Messes bugged her to no end. It was the same with Pepper (and the complete opposite with Jane who practically lived in clutter in New Mexico) so the business women had co-planned the wedding practically single-handedly. Everyone had been impressed with how they'd both handled the situation with the utmost professionalism and organization – but no one had been surprised.

Betty patted the beautiful arrangement of flowers in her hands that mixed orchids with daffodils. "I 'borrowed' them from my friend's garden."  
Tania's lips quirked but she continued on with her checklist. "Something blue?"

She gestured to the necklace around her neck with a sapphire pendant. "Of course."

She nodded again. "Something old?"

"My fiancé." That got every one of the girls to chuckle. "But in all honesty, this dress was my mother's. It's… pretty old."

Tania hummed in acknowledgement. She softened at the sadness buried in Betty's eyes, hiding beneath the excitement for what was to happen a few short minutes.

"Something new?"

"This veil is brand new."

"Good. Are the petals ready?"

"Good to go," Pepper confirmed with the universal sign for "A-okay" and a wink.

"Is everyone in position?"

"To our knowledge."

"Are the guests seated and ready?"

"Yes."

"Is the pianist ready?"

"Yes."

"Is Parker ready?"

"So he says."

"Perfect. Tell the pianist to start the march."

Pepper nodded and pressed a finger to her Bluetooth and began speaking into it rapidly. Tania threw away her clipboard, imagining the sound of a cat meowing in protest for fun before grabbing the single stem from which twisted both a daffodil and an orchid (something Bruce, Betty, Tony, and Jane had all worked up in the lab. Just what they needed. Science Sisters to accompany the Science Bros).

She stood in front of the large, wooden, double doors and fingered the flowers in her hands with delicate fingers. She took deep breaths as the music started. She was to go first, where Steve would join her and they'd walk the rest of the aisle together, arm in arm.

She looked down at herself. She wore a pale yellow bridesmaids dress that fell to the floor and was made of shiny satin. It hugged her body nicely and had been fitted specifically for her. The collar was rounded with folds beneath the throat and low enough to reveal her pocket watch, which she wore around her neck. Her hair had been tied in an intricate bun and curled so that one curl rested against the ride side of her head. Her nails had been painted with a French manicure and her make-up was pale but accentuating. She resisted the urge to smirk as she remembered the cowboy boots she wore beneath her dress. She didn't want to risk tripping up on the aisle in heels despite not being the bride herself – it kind of felt like it.

The other bridesmaids looked extremely similar to herself – same hairstyle, dress, make-up palette, nails, flowers, and smiles. It would go Tania, Pepper, Natasha, Jane, and then Betty, who would all be joined by their respective partners except for the bride, who would join hers at the altar.

Tania inhaled again as she waited for her cue. She wondered what Steve would think of her in this dress. It didn't exactly match her complexion but she supposed she should feel grateful – pale yellow didn't clash with the brown of her hair like it did to the red heads behind her. She had no idea why Betty had wanted a yellow and white pattern throughout the wedding but she hadn't argued. It wasn't her wedding after all.

She wondered what Steve looked like. He had yet to see her dress and she had yet to see his tux. She prayed that Tony wouldn't put him in something horrendous and convince him that "that's what people wear nowadays". She grimaced at the thought.

Suddenly the doors were opening and she found the smile on her face widening with it as if they pulled at her cheeks involuntarily. She stepped forward with a confidance she wasn't sure whether or not she felt – her heart was beating too loudly to tell. The first thing she saw was a bright flash of light. When it cleared, she spotted Peter kneeling in front of the aisle with his camera in front of his face. He gave her a thumbs up without removing the device from his eye.

Above him, on the steps beneath a vine covered archway, stood Bruce in a stark white tux with his hands folded in front of him. He looked nervous enough to Hulk out but when he saw her she couldn't help but smile reassuringly at him. She needed to remain calm if not for herself than for those who relied on those who seemed calm in situations like these.

She continued on and looked to her right. Sure enough, Steve was there, grinning at her. His shoulders relaxed slightly as soon as her right arm slipped into his left like it fit there from the start. His touch, even through his suit jacket, sent sparks alight inside of her. She ignored them for the time being as they walked to the beat of the piano towards the altar.

Steve was wearing a classic black tuxedo that was unbuttoned for a more casual look to it. He also wore a nice brown bow-tie (only she knew that it was to match her boots) and his hair was combed over to the side. She honestly didn't like it with that much gel in it but she kept her mouth shut. His handsome face more than made up for it. Before long, they separated and she went left to stand by where Betty would be when she got there and Steve stood a little to the side and behind Bruce.

As soon as Tania turned to face the small crowd (no more than twenty-five people tops), Pepper was already holding up her dress to walk up the steps and join her. Despite the class with her hair, she looked gorgeous. From the blush on her face, Tania could tell that Tony had whispered something along those lines into her ear on the way here. The man himself look totally at home in the Dolce suit of his – also black. His tie (obviously done by someone else) was silver, to match Pepper's clutch, which she would carry later. The fact that his arc reactor was no longer there, no longer shining through his clothes, had been a shock to all the Avengers. But they'd all been happy for him. Of course, now if the world needed Iron Man, he would either need to borrow Iron Patriot or War Machine or make a non-arc reactor powered suit. Still. He was happier than they'd seen him in a long time.

Natasha and Clint were next, smiling with closed mouths. They were spies. Spies didn't _do_ attention. Peter snapped another picture and Natasha barely restrained a grimace. They split up and went to their positions.

Jane and Thor were the last before the bride. He was grinning madly and waving to the humans who were staring at him as if he were a King walking amongst his people. It wasn't that far off. Jane smiled shyly and nearly walked behind her boyfriend to avoid the eyes that bored into her petite frame. She managed not to remain hidden the entire walk down and smile for the camera slightly. She stood behind Natasha as Betty finally came into view.

The bride was wearing a stunning white wedding dress that had a V-neck collar that stretched so that it cut off halfway down her shoulders. It had long sleeves made of lace that clung to her arms with silk fabric beneath it. The dress hugged her figure until her hips, where it branched out a little with lace that matched her arms over top of more silk and more frilly things that made it somewhat poofy. She was wearing glass slippers like Cinderella (a childhood dream of hers) and a thin veil that covered her face and traveled down to her lower back. Her hair was down but curled beautifully beneath the veil, clipped to her head by a white orchid behind her right ear. She looked up from the red yellow carpet she had been walking and smiled at Bruce – finally relaxing.

Their eyes met and it was like lightning had struck between them. There was something magnetic that drew her to him and Tania swore she saw him lean forward. She slowly, torturously slowly, climbed the steps until she stood opposite her husband-to-be under the archway on the balcony of Stark Tower.

It was just before sunset of the last day of two-thousand-and-twelve. And what a way to go. It was New Year's Eve, and that was the way they had wanted it. Four months wasn't that long to plan the average wedding, but with Pepper, probably the CEO who had the most on her plate in the world, and Tania, bordering on OCD, working together, it was almost guaranteed to go off without a hitch.

Everyone had made sure to keep the entire thing on the DL. They only invited important people (Nick Fury, Maria Hill, a few of Betty's closest friends and family, Graham, some of Pepper's family, Rhodey, Happy, etc). They had invited General Ross on Betty's insistence (without giving him the time or place of the wedding, just that it was going to be going on and how to contact them) but no RSVP had been sent and the chair reserved for him in the front row was empty. He wouldn't even walk his own daughter down the aisle because of the Hulk.

Betty had tried to tell everyone that it didn't bother her, but it didn't take two master assassins to tell that she wasn't telling the truth. However, she had assured them that being with the Avengers and Bruce had definitely made her life happier and that it might just be worth it. In the present, the priest was saying the things he normally did with these kinds of things. Tania had never been to a wedding and was atheist so she didn't really know what they entailed, but she listened in anyway, somewhat curious.

She realized that several things were missing from this wedding: a flower girl, a ring bearer, a maid of honour, the fathers, the mothers (there was not a single parent in attendance… of anyone. How sad was that?), etc. But Betty had said that that was the way her life was. Why try to make it something it wasn't? Despite not having a Maid of Honour, Bruce had chosen Tony to be his Best Man. I mean come on, Science Bros!  
That was why Tania had been surprised when Jane had not been chosen as the MOH. The bride had said that although she had been living with the Avengers for four months now, she didn't think that she was close enough with them just yet to get that role – no offense to them of course. It made sense, even if Bruce had only known Tony three or four months longer than her. Gosh, the Avengers hadn't even met each other a year ago and they'd already become such a close-knit family.

Next thing you know, Jane was going to move in. Which wasn't an unlikely possibility with the way her relationship with Thor was going. But they were taking it slow apparently, because what happened pre-Chitauri was not enough to actually count as being in a relationship according to Jane. Sure, she loved him. But she wanted to date, try things out, teach him the human way of doing things in a way she comfortable with. Thor was more than happy to give her what she wanted. He could wait forever.

It was time for the vows. Bruce went first. "Betty, I knew from the moment I saw you that you were different. I knew I had to talk to you, to get to know you. And then you became so much more than different – you became special. Irreplaceable. You became mine. And I loved that. I loved you then and I still love you now, several years later, at the altar. I left to protect you, but I came back because I think I was slowly dying without you. It may have taken years and years but I think it would have happened eventually. You are the sun to my Earth. I need you to live. And I promise that if you stay with me, help me live, I will protect you with every fiber of my being. And so will he."

Betty cracked a nervous smile and cleared her throat. "Bruce, you have been my rock for so long that I think I might have molded my soul to the shape of yours. Our period of separation left me feeling like there was something missing. But now that we're together," she laced her fingers with his, "I can feel myself shifting back to the way it was. Molded together with yours for eternity. It feels like it's stuck to yours like glue, like we aren't just being put together, but we're joining – mixing – melding – forging – not just in matrimony but in heart, soul, and mind. I love you Bruce Banner. I promise that when we marry, I will look after you for the rest of my life. I will trust you and be there for you for every rock life throws at you – even if it's an avalanche of boulders I'll be there with you. Until the end. You and me. Together forever."  
Bruce's smile grew wider with word she spoke until it felt like his face might split in half. He tightened his hand around hers. There was some more talking before the priest said something Tania had witnessed in movies. "You may now kiss the bride."

Their lips collided before he had even finished the sentence, causing light laughter to echo throughout the audience and Peter, Clint, Graham, and Tony to wolf-whistle and cat call. Tania, Natasha, Steve, and Pepper all rolled their eyes as Bruce flipped them the finger – which Peter caught on camera. Nice.

Almost immediately after, Betty was ready to throw her bouquet from the altar. Tania was ushered into the group of girls along with Natasha (who was frowning) to catch the flowers even if she didn't care much for the tradition. There was no way something like that could predict anything real.

Betty threw the bouquet. It soared through the air. It landed in the waiting arms of Pepper Potts, who was now blushing yet again. Tony was apparently clueless as to the meaning behind the tradition, which was then explained to him by Steve of all people, leaning in to whisper in his ear. The billionaire visibly paled and coughed into a fist before adjusting his tie nervously.

Pepper laughed at him and shoved the bouquet in his hands. He looked mildly shocked and she kissed his cheek just as Peter snapped another picture. He himself was accompanied by his girlfriend Gwen Stacy – a gorgeous, smart, blonde who made good impressions.

Peter eventually got group shots, individual shots, and couple shots. For theirs, Tania had jumped onto Steve's back and smiled for the camera. Peter had gotten a picture of Steve looking shocked and confused with Tania's legs blurry, but after a couple more tries, he had the perfect one. She was riding him piggy-back style and he was leaning forward so that he was almost bent at a forty-five degree angle. They were both smiling and he was holding her thighs so that she wouldn't fall. Her cowboy boots were perfectly visible now, not that either cared. She rested her head against the left side of his and grinned for the camera. Normal was boring anyway.

Pepper and Tony's were actually pretty uncharacteristic – they had both pulled funny faces before bursting out laughing. The two of them were a lot happier after the events at Christmas. Everything was still so raw, so new, but Tony's arc reactor was gone, he had finally proven to Pepper JUST how much he adored her, SI didn't make weapons anymore (though had happened quite a while ago), Killian was dead, Happy was okay, the Avengers were together again, and it was all just pure bliss. Sure, Maya was also dead and the mansion that had originally been Howard's was now in the ocean and hours, days, WEEKS of hard labour in the lab on Tony's part were now nothing but fireworks in the past. But they were together and happy and that was all that mattered.

Clint and Natasha had also surprised everyone by kissing for their photo. Despite knowing that the two of them were together since last August, they had never seen much PDA from the two of them until that moment. It only displayed how much the assassins had come to trust their friends – no, their family, within the last few months.

Jane and Thor both stood awkwardly for theirs, with her arms around his waist and his around her shoulders. He was so much taller than her you'd think he was on stilts. But then Thor made her laugh with something he'd said and Peter had caught it perfectly.

Bruce and Betty's were obviously the most important. Bruce was carrying his wife bridal style (what else?) and she had her arms thrown in the air and the veil pulled away from her face (by Bruce earlier in the ceremony) and her legs kicking in the air as she posed for the picture. Bruce, being the shy, quiet, man that he was, simply smiled and tilted his head. She was kind of straining on his muscles – but there was no way in hell he'd ever tell her that.

After the ceremony came the reception. More people had been invited for that (namely the press and extended friends or acquaintances). It was to be held in the aquarium floor of the Tower (because it's Tony and he though, "why the hell not?"). The layout was like a maze and the fish tanks were the walls. It was expansive and very, very large. It was easy to get lost in. It was perfect for privacy – in a way.

There was blaring music that rippled through the waters but somehow didn't disturb the fish. Tony claimed they were all wearing ear plugs but Bruce explained that the kinds of fish they had brought in weren't easily startled. Tony had also wanted sharks and dolphins and whales but Betty had drawn the line at Koi. No bigger than that.

So Tania and Steve wandered around, dancing when they both recognized a song (which was more often than you might think now that Steve has had a sufficient amount of time to adjust to the pop culture references and such. The technology and history he was still working on). She moved as gracefully as they could but they both knew that despite knowing the steps she had taught him, he wasn't fluid. The only flow he possessed was in fighting, when he didn't know what to expect and just went with his gut. This was completely different.

Even so, he had a lot of fun. It was also an excuse to get closer to Tania physically. He craved her touch and to touch her with everything he had. Since that first night in September when he'd given himself to her completely, they had done so on more than one occasion, but had both deemed it too special to do too often. They remained content kissing and touching and just all around being together.

After going back in time, the two of them had only grown closer. What had originally tore them apart had sewn them back together tighter than ever before. Steve had gotten his good-byes (mostly) and actually moved on. He smiled a lot more and he stopped painting horrific scenes of death and war and instead painted good memories of those he loved.

Tania now had complete faith that he loved her more than she ever thought he could. Their bond was stronger than she had anticipated when she got herself entangled in his life. They had started out as friends with someone more lurking in the shadows, but now that something had overshadowed their lives and intertwined them without their noticing. She knew now that she couldn't leave him willingly. It was physically impossible. She also knew that he felt the same. When he went after her – when he chose her, instead of Peggy – she knew. The love making that followed only served to nail it in; seal the deal, if you will.

The two of them were practically inseparable now. They were rarely seen without the other, much like Clint and Natasha except on solo missions. It was true that Steve went on the occasional mission and that Tania went on small business trips here and there, but they were in constant communication.

Tony and Bruce had created an invisible and incredible tiny comms unit that was inserted into the ear and could not be washed out. It was practically permanent. It was a device so small that no one was supposed to notice its existence. Every Avenger (honorary included as well as girlfriends) had a comm in their ear. They were never removed and could be activated at any time. They would have taken the place of the Stark phone had he not explicitly stated that the comms were for emergencies only – the power that was in such a miniscule device was massive, but if used and discovered, its removal would be incredibly painful, even if the insertion felt like dust settling in one's ear.

So despite the comms units, Stania often contacted by phone or video call (aka Skype) once she'd shown him how to use both with all their functions. JARVIS was also a good messenger when they couldn't get through to each other, as he was uplinked into the comms as well, although he wasn't anywhere near as capable as when in the Tower.

After the dancing, everyone gathered for a late dinner in the dining hall. It was pain getting to the other floor, seeing as there were only two elevators and one flight of stairs. Twenty excruciating minutes later, everyone was more or less in the position to eat and Tony started tapping his glass and stood. He unfortunately shattered the wine glass but it got the attention he'd wanted. He shrugged and dropped the utensil and glass back onto the table.

"As the Best Man, because I am the best man of all of you here, I am inclined," he coughed, "forced," he coughed again, "to give a speech. I'm no good at that sort of thing so I just thought I'd wing it.

"When I first met Bruce, the first I said to him was something having to do with thermo-nuclear astrophysics that I don't remember because I'm a little buzzed." The crowd laughed a little. He smiled. This was just one of his many elements. "I told him his work was unparalleled and that I admired how he turned into an angry green rage monster. You know what he said? 'Thanks'. That right there got me to thinking, 'Hm… this guy seems kind of broody. Broody and I don't mix.' But then shit happened and it turns out we were meant for each other. Together, we've accomplished so many scientific endeavers I'm not even sure Pepper, who used to be an accountant, can calculate how many. I can't even begin to explain how many things we've blown up in the process or why. It's just fun.

"But anyway, I noticed that Bruce was mostly broody whenever his past BEFORE the Hulk came up. I got to thinking. What was BEFORE the Hulk that could possibly make him so miserable? Turns out, he'd broken the heart of an ex-girlfriend and was now living with the consequences."

"Tony…" Pepper warned. She didn't like where this was going. He brushed her off and continued.

"But now that they're together, I don't think I've ever seen Bruce so happy. He's never flipped me the bird before. That's a new one. I think that with his new wife by his side, we'll see a whole new side of Bruce we've never known – and I look forward to meeting him, just as I looked forward to his greener side. Here's to it." He raised his glass and downed it before everyone at the table copied him. He slammed the new glass on the table, shattering it again, before shouting, "ANOTHER!"

Thor's booming laughter was louder than any of the others. Whether that was because it was just the way he is or because he was one of the few people who actually understood the joke was debateable.

Betty had changed into a gorgeous green dress (yes, it was Hulk-coloured) with a long slit up the side and had straightened her hair. Bruce (who had still refused alcohol but had been given some unsuspectingly by Tony anyway) was now somewhat buzzed and had completely discarded his jacket before accompanying his wife on the dance floor. The other Avengers followed and had a merry old time.

That night, it was only them left as they gathered on the balcony once again. There were pink rose petals everywhere from having fallen after Bruce and Betty's exit to the reception hall and the sun had long set. It was almost midnight. From their spot on the Tower, they had a perfect view of the ball dropping. The couples all stood together by some unspoken rule (which Tania thought was ridiculous but didn't actually protest seeing as Steve was warm and the night was cold). It was snowing lightly, but JARVIS kept the floor heated so that the flakes melted upon contact. All the snow was piled on the ground below, not that they cared at the moment.

Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… Tania looked up and observed the starry night sky. There weren't many starts to see with all the lights of New York City, but there were no clouds either. It was still pretty. She looked back to the ball drop. Five… four… three… two… one…

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The team shouted, throwing their gathered piles of petals into the air to join the snowflakes as they drifted to the ground. Steve quickly turned and pressed his lips to hers. It was unexpected but immediately Tania melted into his embrace, caressing his defined jaw with one hand and running her fingers through his hair with the other. The gel kind of ruined it but she again ignored it in favour of pressing her lips harder against his. His mouth opened and hers followed immediately.

They were practically experts of each other's mouths now that it was rhythmic and smooth and just THAT much better. She grasped at the hairs at the nape of his neck and brought him closer, feeding the fire that was her love for him. In that moment, she knew this year had started with an explosion from which embers danced behind her eyelids. They might as well have been fireworks.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N. Hiya! So the trailer script is posted on my profile, please go check it out! This chapter is just fluff but it brings up some stuff that will come up later in the story. Hope you guys liked the wedding :D Without further ado, enjoy the second chapter! :D**

**Disclaimer - I don't own the Avengers. MARVEl/Disney does.**

CHAPTER II

Tania hummed Michael Bublé songs to herself as she made her way down the levels of the Tower via the elevator. She held a basket of her dirty laundry against her left hip as she waited. Normally she wouldn't be humming to herself the morning after a party where she drank alcohol, but she only had a few sips of Steve's drink so she didn't have a hangover, which was nice. It was Tuesday, but Tony and Pepper had generously given her a Christmas vacation not unlike the holiday break high school students received.

So she slept in. It was currently ten o'clock in the morning when the doors opened and she entered the laundry room. This floor of the Tower was made specifically for chores and the like. There was a laundry room, a storage room, a furnace room, a pantry, a shed of sorts to house outdoor gardening tools, and a few more.

Tania opted for the laundry room that had a full wall of washing machines occupying the space with another row of dryers on top, making a total of ten washers and ten dryers. The wall adjacent to that one had a shelf running its length for folding and an iron on each side. Beneath the shelf, there were ten empty baskets.

The brunette walked toward the first washing machine only to see that it was in use. It was shaking rather violently and causing all of the other machines to shake as well, even if they weren't on. She moved on to the next one and dumped her coloured tops into it. She poured in the detergent and turned it on. It started whirring.

She reached up top to the dryer she knew held her denim clothes and removed them, placing them in her now empty basket. She transported them to the shelf and began to fold them. She continued to hum and daydream as she did so, not noticing violent quaking of the first machine she'd seen or the vibrations in the floor until she paused to change songs. She froze.

She turned to look at the first washer and so that it was practically rocking back and forth. "Jarvis?" she called.

"Yes Miss Banks?"

"Who did the laundry this morning?"

"Mr. Stark did."

"Oh dear."

* * *

Up in the lounge, which was only about a floor or two higher than the "chore floor" as Tony had called it, Steve and the others sat around doing their own things. Steve was reading the Lord of the Rings. Natasha was also reading, though her book didn't have a cover and she refused to tell anyone what it was. Clint sat next to her, channel surfing on the couch. Bruce and Tony were sitting at the bar counter and discussing something intelligent along with Betty and Jane while Thor was rummaging around in the fridge for food. Pepper was on one of the lower floors supervising one of the departments of SI for the morning.

All of a sudden, a small explosion rocked the entire floor and everyone noticed. "What was that?" Clint asked, turning his attention away from the TV.

"One of the washing machines exploded, Agent Barton," JARVIS explained.

"Was there anyone in proximity to it?" Steve asked, always thinking about the safety of others.

"Miss Banks was within several meters of the machine," he confirmed, but Steve had already thrown himself over the arm chair he was sitting and rushing for the elevator. The others were close behind him but some opted to take the stairs as they wouldn't all fit.

When the doors to the elevator opened, a massive amount of water rushed in up to his ankles and bubbles pushed their way into Steve, Tony, Clint, and Natasha's faces. The Captain waved them all away annoyingly before stepping forward. Already, his PJ pants were soaked at the hems and his socks clung to his feet uncomfortably.

"Tania?" he called. Obviously it wasn't a real explosion which had him relaxed slightly. Surely the only bad thing was that water was everywhere and bubbles were falling from the ceiling.

A beat after her name was echoed, the woman herself popped up from a particularly large pile of bubbles with a gasp. She was apparently sitting on the ground and was absolutely drenched with bubbles on her head and torso as well as her arms. "Here," she stated before hiccupping. Bubbles came out.

Steve waded through the water that was slowly draining into the other rooms towards her and grabbed her elbow, helping her to her feet. "Are you okay?"

In response, she hiccupped again. Yuck. Soap tasted nasty.

"Tony!" Steve said menacingly as he turned to face the philanthropist still in the elevator.

He threw up his hands. "Why are you looking at me? It could have been Shakespeare over there!" He pointed to where Thor, Bruce, Betty, and Jane entered from the stairwell with shock written all over their faces.

"But it was you, Mr. Stark."

"Shut it Jarvis!"

"Tony…" Steve warned.

"Hey, hey, hey, let's think this through now…" he backed into the elevator and pressed the button to bring them up. "Ha!" The doors closed before they could see anything else.

Tania hiccupped again and watched as a large bubble appeared in front of her face and steadily rose toward the ceiling. She started laughing. It kind of hurt from the soap down her throat but it was just too funny not to laugh at. She splashed Steve (who was closest) with the soapy water and he spluttered before looking at her in disbelief. She turned to run but ended up slipping. She started to fall backwards and grabbed at his arm to prevent it but somehow ended up dragging him down with her.

There was a loud SPLASH as they both crashed into the water. When the resurfaced from the bubbles, they both had new beards and hats made of the soapy substance. Steve immediately wiped them from his face and hair but smiled. Just then he smirked.

It was a look that Tania had never seen on his face, but rather on Tony's more often than not. A smirk usually meant mischief, naughtiness, or smugness. To have Captain America feel any of the three was unusual for sure.

While she was caught in this line of thinking, Steve threw an entire pile of bubbles in her face. She squealed and raised her arms to shield herself. It didn't do much good. She splashed him back, not noticing the quartet of witnesses slowly backing into the stairwell from which they came.

They had a little mini splash war before the bubbles started to disappear. They tried to kiss at one point but since they both now had soap down their throats it burned (in a bad way) to do so. However they both laughed and settled for hugs and kisses on the cheek and what not as they played around like children.

Eventually, they sobered up enough to have an actual conversation. "So… I guess my laundry is now ruined," Tania stated.

"Did you do this?"

"Oh no. It Tony's fault. Probably a ploy by Pepper to get him to do chores that went horribly wrong. But still, from his machine that exploded, all of the other ones did too and that's why there's so much water. All of them leaked, including the one that was washing my clothes. And the jeans I just took out of the dyer are now sopping wet yet again." She sighed.

"Guess we'll just have to go back to hand washing them. Oh the horror," he said sarcastically. She lightly slapped his arm.

"Easy for you to say."

"Yes, yes it is."

She rolled her eyes. "We should probably get out of here. It hurts to talk and I need a drink."

"Me too. But who's going to clean this up?"

She sent him a meaningful look. "Who do you think? Tony is going to clean this up whether he likes it or not."

"How do you suggest we do that?"

"Pepper, of course."

"Of course."

They stepped into the elevator and hit the button for their floor. As they waited, Tania felt the need to start up another conversation.

"So… our six month anniversary is coming up."

"I know."

"It's on the- Wait, you know?" she turned to stare at him disbelievingly.

He shrugged. "Of course I do. We got together on the twenty-sixth of July. Officially."

Her eyes were a little wider than normal. "Wow, no guy I have ever met or dated has ever remembered anniversaries before. You truly are one of a kind Steve Rogers."

"Thank you, so are you."

She smiled brightly. "So… are we… going to do anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"For our anniversary. You know, like going out to dinner or getting each other gifts or celebrating in general."

"If you want to. I didn't know people celebrated being together for six months. Is it every six months?"

"No, just the first half a year. Then it's every year on the date you got together. That's why I asked if you wanted to celebrate it. If you don't it's fine with me."

"No, let's do it. So does that usually just entail an extra special date and some gifts?"

"Basically. But it's just one gift."

"Interesting."

The doors opened and they entered their floor. "So there's twenty-five days and counting."

"Yup. Just over three weeks to plan."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"Not really. I mean, the guy usually pays and goes all out for his girlfriend but I want to go all out for you too. So how about I take you out during the day and you take me out during the evening. Then we'll exchange gifts at night."

"Sounds good."

They walked into their room and immediately started searching for clothes. Ever since Tania had moved into his room, she had moved the majority of her furniture there so that she had her own dresser and wardrobe as well as a nightstand and other various things. She left her bed to Graham, who didn't have one seeing as he used to live in a school dorm.

She rummaged through her drawers for a new outfit and started changing. In the months that passed, she and Steve had gotten more and more comfortable around her, clothes or no. They changed in the same room (though Steve insisted that they look away when doing so… baby steps) and walked around in only towels sometimes. It was a whole new level to their relationship that the both of them enjoyed very much.

Once she had toweled off and pulled on her dark jeans and violet long-sleeve shirt, she tied her hair in a ponytail and turned around to face Steve, who had also tugged on jeans but wore a black T-shirt.

In more recent times, she had gotten Steve to slowly adapt to the fashion trends of modern day times. She eventually convinced him to try on jeans when they went shopping once. Despite his initial denial to try it, seeing as everyone he saw with jeans on wore the skinny type ones, he found that he liked them enough to keep ONE pair. Hey, it was progress.

She also got him to wear less flannel but he did tend to wear more plaid shirts than anything else. That was fine. She just made sure they were unbuttoned to reveal a black or white shirt underneath. It was a more modern style that way. He'd flat out refused converse and any shoes of the like but had settled for loafers and running shoes when need be.

"So… what do you want for our anniversary?" he asked as he started buttoning his plaid shirt over the black T-shirt. Tania walked over to him and shooed his hands away and started unbuttoning them for him.

"Surprise me. You did a fantastic job at Christmas that I'm sure you'll do a fantastic job this time."

"Isn't your birthday coming up too?"

"Maybe." She kissed his nose before turning to her vanity and sat down to apply her makeup and tie her pocket watch around her neck.

He walked up behind her and leaned over her chair so that they were both framed in the mirror. "You are so beautiful," he murmured and kissed her hair.

She blushed and looked down. "Thanks." Her tone of voice suggested that he didn't fully believe him. He gently tilted her head to look up at the mirror without taking his own gaze from it.

"It's true. What could make you think otherwise?"

"The fact that my ex-boyfriend wasn't attracted to me." It was out before she could stop it. She blushed even harder.

Steve frowned. "Darren? The guy from the beach?"

She nodded. "Yeah, he told me I 'didn't get his engine running'." She rolled her eyes as she remembered him. Why she had ever dated him was still a mystery to her.

"If that means what I think it means, then he was an ass."

"Agreed."

"But Tania, you are the most beautiful woman in my eyes. I love everything about you. Everything."

"Thanks Steve. That means a lot. And for the record, you are most handsome man I have ever laid eyes on. I know I'm not the only one who thinks so and I consider myself extremely lucky that you're mine."

He pressed his lips against her temple softly. "I love you."

She turned and brought his face to hers, kissing him gently. "And I love you."


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N. Hi guys! I'm back :) Sorry, I've been kind of busy the past few days. Also, if you all check my profile you can see that I posted a oneshot prompted by one of my reviewers that takes place in SAACSWCA after Tania gets mugged. It's basically an argument between Tania and Pepper. Interested? Go check it out :) Has anyone gone to read my trailer scripts? I'm just curious. Anyway, hope you enjoy chapter 3 :D**

**Disclaimer - I don't own the Avengers and I never will. But maybe one day MARVEL will own this story... but not right now ;)**

CHAPTER III

As Steve and Tania descended back into the lounge for lunch, downstairs, Pepper was in her office trying to strike what might be Stark Industries' biggest deal yet.

She nervously twirled the cord of the phone in her fingers as she listened to the CEO on the other end of the line to respond to her proposal. When he did, she frowned. "No, Sir, I don't understand. Stark International is offering you a huge deal and an equally huge sum of money for-"  
She was interrupted by the man on the other end of the line. She rolled her eyes and clacked her fingers against her desk as she stared at the perpetual motion machine on her desk, swinging around and around and around forever. She'd gotten it to replace her last one from the destruction of the Malibu mansion and was glad she did – it was oddly calming in times like these.

She sighed and began rubbing her temples. "Fine. We'll meet in person." She pulled out her Stark Phone and began scrolling through her calendar. "I am available on Friday the fourth at seven a.m. Is that alright with you?" She paused, waiting for his answer. "Okay. See you then. I-" He interrupted her to ask some useless question and she rolled her eyes again. "Yes, of course I will bring the head of each SI department. That is to be expected from the merging of two companies. Anyway, I am a very busy woman as you can understand Mr. Greene, and I must be going. Have a nice day and I will see you on Friday."

She slammed the phone down before he could ask any further questions. She sighed and dropped into her chair, rubbing furiously at her eyes. Ever since the whole Mandarin fiasco, she'd been extremely behind in her duties as co-CEO of Stark Industries. It had only been set back further by her "medical condition" as a bad ass woman on fire.

Once Tony had gotten rid of her newfound powers, she had set immediately to work on bringing the company back up from the ground from which it was sinking. It had been a lot of work and it was still only a few days later. She had at least a week's worth of papers to sort through and dozens of phone calls and hundreds of emails and at least ten meetings to attend to within the next couple weeks or she knew she'd never catch up.

Stark Industries had recently expressed interest in branching out and funding schools in less developed countries and Arrow Incorporated did just that. In short, Tony wanted to buy Arrow Inc. It was a long shot because Arrow was one of the biggest companies out there outside of SI and it was completely successful. But whatever Tony wanted, Tony usually received.

In order to buy Arrow, Pepper knew she'd have to do a LOT of convincing and bargaining and compromising. It was going to be hard but if Stark and Arrow "merged", all the bad press about Tony might just be buried for long enough to focus on the progress their company is making.

AI headquarters was unfortunately in Philadelphia, which was only a half hour flight away, but it was still far enough. Evens so, in order to have a full business meeting with two businesses, she'd need the head of every department she had on flight with her. That included Public Relations, Human Resources, Finance/Accounting, Sales, Production, Maintenance/Operations, Legal, Research, Security, and so many more. Among those departments was Marketing and Advertising. The head of said department was none other than Tania herself.

Pepper sighed in relief. Maybe the meeting wouldn't be so bad. She could use a little get away anyway. She'd barely left her office for the past few days and with everything that went on with Tony as well as Bruce and Betty's wedding… it was just so exhausting.

Meetings as large as this one usually took several hours with minimal breaks in between. With any luck, the meeting would only take one day but the SI team could find a hotel and stay the night. Sometimes, if a CEO or two were really stubborn, these meetings could take up to a week.

At that thought, Pepper groped around her desk blindly for her travel mug filled to the brim with Orange Pekoe tea. She sipped it and relaxed slightly. She could already the feel the muscles in the back of her neck forming into knots and she did not want to have to deal with them right now. She had calls to every department to make. But first, as a little break of sorts, she had to go visit Tania, seeing as she wasn't actually in her office.

* * *

Upstairs, Clint and Natasha were tag teaming for lunch and making sandwiches of all different kinds piled high on a giant platter in the middle of the counter. It didn't get very high before Thor started shrinking it in record time. After all these months of living together, Tania still couldn't get used to how much the God ate. Clint was right when he'd said that the guy was even worse than a bottomless pit.

She stole a half sandwich for herself and began munching. Clint had a talent for food that none of the Avengers could deny. The archer was sometimes (often) arrogant about it but Natasha usually kept him in his place. Besides, he was usually only teasing that he was the head chef. It was nowhere near the level to which Tony took his arrogance.

It was in this position, with all the Avengers sitting around the counter in the lounge eating sandwiches that Pepper came in looking somewhat frazzled and extremely stressed. Tania turned around on the bar stool to regard the woman walking towards her and swallowed her food.

"You okay Pepper?"

She nodded and waved with one hand nonchalantly while clutching her tea with her other hand so tightly that her knuckles were losing colour. "I'm fine. Listen. I need you to come to Philadelphia with me this Friday for a business meeting."

Tania furrowed her eyebrows and turned all the way around to face her friend. "What kind of business meeting?" She was in work-mode now. The Avengers might as well have disappeared into thin air.

"Arrow Incorporated and Stark Industries are going to be discussing a merge at their HQ at seven a.m. on the fourth."

"A merge?" she repeated with shock. "That's huge news!"

"I know. That's why I need all heads of all departments there with me to back me up and brainstorm ideas and all together just being ready because I am going to seal the deal even if I have to sell my own soul."

"Wow Pepper that's great!" She stood up and hugged the red head fiercely. "That's going to be a lot of work though, are you sure you're up to it?"

"I have to be. Stark Industries stocks are plummeting and I need something big to make them rise again. This is exactly what we need. I know a merge will put a lot of pressure on the Marketing department and I'm sorry but we need this."

"Don't worry. I was starting to get bored anyway."

Pepper laughed dryly and without humour. "Well, be prepared for what might be an entire week of boredom in Philadelphia because Hun, we're going on a business trip."

"Awesome. I'll start packing-"

"Hold your horses." Pepper stepped in front of her friend before Tania could wander off. "The meeting isn't until Friday. We have a bit of time."

"I know, but even so I like being prepared. Plus, I have to go tell my department about the big news."

"I can do that-"

"Don't be ridiculous! Just because I'm on my day off doesn't mean I can't visit my own office. You have plenty of other departments to handle, I'll handle my own."

Pepper sent her a grateful smile. "Thank you." She reached over and grabbed a sandwich before marching off toward the elevator with Tania in tow. "Thanks Clint!" she called over her shoulder before pressing the button on her blue tooth and speaking rapidly into it to the Human Resources department.

The elevator doors closed and the Avengers just stared at them for a few seconds. It was Betty who broke the silence. "What just happened?"

"What you just witnessed was the rare occurrence of when the Business Partners bring their work home with them," Tony replied easily and sipped his lemonade.

"Business Partners?" Betty queried.

He nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I figured that since Bruce and I are the Science Bros and you and Jane are the Science Sisters that I'd make a nickname for the them as duo as well."

"And the best you could come up with was the Business Partners?" Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow, obviously unimpressed.  
Tony shrugged. "You, Pepper, and Jane are the Red Hots."

That earned glares from both Clint and Thor. Tony raised his hands half in a "peace" gesture and a "don't hurt me" gesture. "Steve and Thor are the dumb blondes."

More glares. "I'm a blonde," Clint deadpanned.

"But you're not dumb," Tony pointed out.

"Excuse me," Steve started, obviously ready for another spat. Before a fight could break out, however, JARVIS interrupted them.

"Avengers, it may interest you to know that Director Fury is on line one."

"Put him through," Tony ordered.

Nick Fury's face was projected above the counter with a neutral background. He looked the same as usual: all black gear, eye patch, no expression.

"Avengers," he started, moving his head with his words, "there's been," his gaze flicked over to Betty who was sitting at the counter next to Bruce and drinking her Peppermint tea quite innocently, "a situation," he mended. "We need Captain Rogers and Agent Barton here for debriefing ASAP. The rest of you are dismissed."

"Yes sir," Steve and Clint chorused in perfect sync. Having both been soldiers, they were eerily able to predict the other's tactical strategies and adjust to them accordingly on the battlefield. It was not unlike the way Natasha and Clint could read each other's minds on missions, but with the two blondes, it was more just a likeness in strategy than anything else.

Once the two of them had gone to suit up, Tony pointed at the exit which they took. "Them? They're the projectile buddies." Natasha threw a sandwich at his head.

* * *

In the Marketing and Advertising department, Drew and the others were slacking off and eating Thai food for their lunch break. Tania came in moments later dressed in her casual clothes – something which none of her coworkers had seen except Peter, who'd bartended that party back when she first moved into the Tower.

"Good day everyone," she greeted. The employees all looked up at her with mild surprise. She ignored it and walked over to the head of the desk and plowed on. "So Miss Potts has just informed me that Stark Industries plans on buying Arrow Incorporated."

This, of course, caused uproar of shock and some protests. Tania managed to calm them down relatively fast and popped the cap off a red dry erase marker before popping it back on to the other side of the utensil. She turned to the board and began to draw a graph.

"This graph shows how much the stocks for SI have gone down within the past two weeks." She grabbed a blue marker and started drawing another line on her picture. "This blue line shows the possibility of how much the stocks can raise if the two companies come together to create one large business. Or rather, one larger business."

A few chuckles echoed throughout the room as they observed her graph. The blue line zigzagged upwards and went through the roof of the graph. A new intern raised her hand and Tania called upon her. "Um, excuse me, but where did you get those numbers?"

"I made them up. But that's beside the point. The point is that with Arrow Inc. we have a chance to raise SI to a higher position that where it is slowly dropping right now. I came here to tell you all that I will be taking a trip to Philadelphia with the other heads as well as Miss Potts and maybe even Mr. Stark to discuss the matter with Arrow themselves. When I come back, you can assume that Arrow has been bought and start making preparations for the giant merge we are going to have to work on. I need giant brainstorms and ideas being written and thrown out there by anyone and everyone. Questions need to be asked and answered and I want this to be in the back of everyone's minds until I return. I will be coming back into work tomorrow to help move the brainstorms but after that you will not see me until the meeting is over. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," the room answered together. She felt a small sense of pride in that she'd taught them that. It felt much less like school and work that way. She smiled.

"Great. Spread the word. I want the whole Tower to know by the end of today. I will be upstairs making a few phone calls to book hotels and help Miss Potts in any way that I can because I am still on my day off and I will not be spending it in my office. Any questions?"

"When do you think you'll be back?" asked the same intern from before.

Tania shrugged and capped the markers. "I don't know. These things are unpredictable. It could be the same day or it could be a week. No more than that though."

"By how much do you think the workload will increase?" Drew wanted to know.

"More than marginally. In other words, a lot. Next."

"Can I come?" That was Peter.

Tania laughed. "Sorry. Only the heads are allowed to go."

"Damn. I've always wanted to go to Philadelphia."

"I know Pete, I know. Is that everything?" No one said anything else. "Perfect. I will see you all tomorrow." She erased her horrible sketch of a graph and replaced the erasers before marching out of the department with a smile and a wave. She was in professional mode. She had to go change into her business suit.

She arrived on her and Steve's floor and changed inter a black pencil skirt, white blouse, and black blazer with a red, white, and blue ascot – a present from Tony and Pepper for Christmas. The scarf covered her pocket watch necklace, but she knew it was there and that was all that mattered.

She grabbed her Stark Phone and began typing furiously as she walked through the hallways. "Jarvis, where's Pepper?"

"Miss Potts is currently en route to Public Relations."

"Could you please let her know that if she needs anything at all to please come to me."

"Yes Miss Banks."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Oh, and could you also tell Steve that I'll be busy all day and probably all week?"

"I am sorry Miss Banks, but Captain Rogers is not in the vicinity. He and Agent Barton were sent on a mission not too long ago."  
Tania stopped in her tracks. A mission? What kind of mission? How dangerous was it? How long would he be gone? He and Natasha had gone on a week-long mission once and she'd nearly gone insane the whole time. Her only comfort had been Clint, who could sympathise but wasn't nearly as worried as she was. Now she supposed her only comfort would be Natasha.

"Details?"

"I'm sorry, but Director Fury has asked that I not divulge any SHIELD secret and Miss Potts considers any and all missions as such."

"Okay." The disappointment was evident in her voice and if JARVIS weren't a computer, she would have assumed that he heart it and had taken pity on her.

"However, I can tell you that it is predicted to be only a few hours long."

She smiled a little. "Thank you Jarvis. You're the best."

"My pleasure, Miss Banks."

**A/N. BTW sorry if I messed up any of the business talk. I don't know how exactly things like this work so if you see any mistakes, please let me know :)**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N. Hi! So this chapter was unexpected and longer and almost totally unplanned. But oh well. Stories and characters have a tendency to write themselves xP I noticed that I got quite a few followers and favourites today, nice :) and thank you to all my reviewers who have decided to follow this through til the end (which I have no idea when that will be btw... this might be the last book or it might be the third in a saga of seven like the Harry Potter series, who knows?). Anyway, hope you enjoy some angst/fluff and the scene that I came up with that originally inspired the title and entire idea for a third book. Enjoy :D**

**Disclaimer - I do not own the Avengers.**

CHAPTER IV

Later that evening found Tania sitting at the counter of the lounge in her business suit with the laptop in front of her and a coffee beside her. She reached over to it to take a sip only to realize that she had drained the entire mug – for the second time.

She sighed and rubbed at her eyes tiredly. She had been staring at the screen all day and she was getting kind of tired. But she needed to finish this. She rushed to complete the form so that she could refill her coffee. She was so focused on finishing it that she didn't hear the elevator doors open or the footsteps approaching.

When she was finished, she sighed and stood up, moving her head back and forth and to the sides to crack it and closing her eyes in pleasure when it did. She grabbed her mug and walked around the counter to the coffee machine and poured the last bit of coffee into her cup. She stared into its black depths as she turned around and inhaled the scent. She knew she had an addiction but honestly it was just too convenient.

She took a warm sip and then placed it on the counter in front of her. She rubbed at her eyes again when she felt a gentle tap on her left shoulder. She looked over to the left but didn't see anyone. Odd. She turned back to her coffee only to realize it was gone.

"Hey!" To her right, stood none other than her boyfriend in full Captain America gear with the mask down and smirking – with her coffee in his hands. He took a sip while grinning and staring at her over the rim. There were bags under his eyes that she could see. They were both dead beat tired.

"That's my coffee," she stated with a raised eyebrow.

He shrugged and took another gulp. She frowned. She needed her coffee to function when she was tired. She reached for it but he gracefully maneuvered it out of her reach. He looked smug.

"I don't take kindly to sharing my coffee, Captain Rogers," she told him, stepped closer to him so that she was just a hair's breadth away from being pressed against his chest. She watched as his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat. Calling him by his rank always seemed to make him weak in the knees. It was a trick she had learned early on in their relationship.

"Well, I kind of need it after what I've been through," he argued back gently as he sipped at her drink yet again.

"And what have you been through, exactly?" she asked in concern. She felt the exasperation melt from her face.

He sighed and brought the mug down in front of his chest – definitely within reach. She didn't take it. Instead, she wrapped her hands around both of his, absorbing the warmth of the cup through his large, gentle hands. She raised it to her lips and drank, relishing the heat and the caffeine. Her eyes never left his – her Captain.

He appeared downcast and stared into the murky brew with tired eyes. "I… we… couldn't save them."

"Save who?" she whispered, slowly walking backwards and leading him to the love seat without letting go of the cup. Any other night and this would have been a stupid motion. Now, no one dared laugh.

When they were seated with the drink shared between the two of them, he let go with one hand and ran it through his hair. He closed his eyes as he was no doubt assaulted by memories from where he'd just come from.

"It was snowing. There was a huge pileup of cars blocking traffic on a bridge over the ocean. It was maybe a dozen cars high. Clint and I were sent in to help. As I started to lift cars and parts out of the way for the passengers to get out, Clint used his grappling arrows to pull up a vehicle that was dangling dangerously over the edge. I got maybe halfway through the pile when another car came speeding around the corner. It was relatively far away but it smashed into the car at the very back of the line, causing it to jolt forward and hit the next car. It continued like that faster than you'd imagine until the car at the front of the line was about to hit a police officer keeping the civilians away. I tackled him to the ground and saved him. The car rolled forward and hit the pile. The hood popped up and it started smoking. I don't know what happened but… everything started catching fire. People were screaming and Clint was rushing into the fray. I ran after him and I helped this one woman out of her van. I carried her to the medics when the entire thing just exploded in a huge ball of fire.

"The woman screamed in my arms, shrieking for her husband, her kids, her dog. She flailed and she squirmed and she cried harder than I've ever seen anyone cry. The police took her from me and I was just… standing there, staring.

"Clint hobbled out in the next few seconds and something clicked in me. I rushed in and helped him limp over to safety. He refused any of the medics, favouring Bruce's inspection instead. I set him down and turned to watch as the mangled cars burned. The fire department did all they could but… there were still so many people in there." His voice was strained and his hands were clenched around the cup so tightly she thought it might shatter in his hands and cut both of them.

She brushed her thumb along his fingers and he relaxed a smidge. His grip was softer at least. She exhaled slowly. "How many?"

He hesitated. "Twelve."

She closed her eyes. Twelve people died earlier that day while she had been busy doing business. Twelve people had watched as two of the six Avengers saved others around them but didn't pick them out of sheer bad luck or because they were too far in to get to first. She could almost see it in her head; the fear, the hopelessness, the horror, the terror, the betrayal, the shock, the pain twisted into all of their faces as they died a horrible, agonizing death.

She shuddered and let go of the cup. Heat suddenly seemed like a terrible thing. Steve brought it closer to himself and scooted away from her. He looked to his right over the arm of the couch and towards the floor to ceiling window Tania had crashed through once. He observed the lights of the city that never slept with silent contemplation.

"I understand if you're disgusted with me," he finally said.

She raised her gaze to bore it into his body. She observed him from head to toe: his suit was dirty and charred and there was a small tear near his hip bone. His boots were scuffed and his gloves were all but black with soot. His hair and face were also spotted with blackness. There were bags under his eyes and his expression was that of one who was depressed. He seemed physically and mentally exhausted. She could plainly see the guilt gnawing away at him, eating him alive from the inside out.

She knew that feeling. She didn't know the extent to which he felt it but she knew IT. She shifted closer to him and ducked under his left arm so that she could snuggle up to his chest. She buried her face in his filthy uniform, probably smearing her face with soot but not caring, and wrapped her arms around his torso.

"I could never be disgusted with you," she confessed. "You did all you could and you didn't know that the car would start a fire. You saved that officer's life."

He scowled. It was not a good look on him, she decided. "It wasn't going very fast. The worst he would have gotten was an injury. But all those people… they could've… I could've…"

"Shh…" she pressed a finger to his lips and he stared down at her, searching her eyes for something. "You couldn't possibly have known what was going to happen. You followed your instincts of not wanting anyone to get hurt. It's almost impossible to fight your instincts."

"But I could have-"

"It doesn't matter what could have been, because it's not. What happened, happened and we can't do anything to stop it."

"Tania… we have a time machine."

Her eyes softened. "You want to go back and save them."

He nodded. "Twelve. That's too many people. One person is too many. I can't- I can't deal with knowing that I could have saved them and then… not doing it. It's my duty as Captain America to keep the people safe and be a role model to society. What kind of role model doesn't take every chance he gets to help others?"

"Steve, if you went back in time and saved everybody, everything would be different. What about the next time someone dies? You're going to want to go back and change that too. I don't think it's a good idea to use time travel to change things like mistakes. I'm not saying that this is a mistake but… there are a lot of unknown variables with time travel.

"I know it's hard and I know I can't possibly understand everything you're going through but… what happens, happens. We have to learn to accept these things. It's like when you woke up here. You just had to move on and accept that you couldn't go back and change things. And even when you could you decided to return here. It's complicated but trust me, it makes sense."

"Tania… I want so badly to save them all. But a part of me knows you're right. The other part…"

"I know Steve." She gently pried the now cold coffee from his white fingers and set it on the coffee table. She let his head fall softly onto her shoulder while he cried. She sniffled a few times herself and stroked his hair. She hummed soft tunes and closed her eyes, cradling him to her.  
Oh how hard this must be for him. To watch a dozen people die before his very eyes for something he could have prevented. She could only imagine the emotional turmoil he was putting himself through as his tears soaked her blazer. As the unspoken leader of the Avengers, it was almost always Steve who took on the guilt of every little thing that went wrong, whether or not he was there. It was always, "I should have done this…" or "I should have been there…". Tania couldn't blame him. As leader, a lot of people's lives rested on his shoulders. It was a heavy burden to carry around each and every day. It was only on missions when he noticed it, when the weight became unbearably heavy.

It was on those days that he came home to her seeking comfort. She always dropped whatever she was doing to help him. They usually ended up snuggling somewhere with his head on her shoulder, alone.

Steve never let anyone but her see this side of him. It was a vulnerable side to him that he still didn't know if he was ready to show to the other Avengers. Sure, they were his team, his closest friends, and his family, but… it was also because of this that he didn't want them to see. They held him in such high regards (mostly) and he didn't want that to shatter with one small tear.

He wasn't ashamed to cry. He'd seen plenty of grown men cry during the war. But still, there was just something that blocked him from showing too much weakness among the other Avengers. They looked up to him. How could he let them down, show them that being weak was okay in someone's time of need?

Normally, he would be with Clint, who was no doubt about as traumatized as he was, but he knew that his teammate was in good hands. Natasha had a way with Clint no one understood. They liked to keep it that way.

So instead, he allowed himself to break down with the one person he knew would always be there for him. She would understand that he couldn't be the leader, be the perfect super soldier everyone expected, all the time. She was the sun to his Earth. She was the bright star in his moments of darkness. She was the being that he orbited around. She was the center of his universe, his solar system, if you will. She pulled him in with her brightness and then kept him there with her gravitational pull. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't leave her. He didn't have the strength. The Earth needed to sun to live, to prosper, to have life. If his sun was gone, all light would go out. His world would come crashing down around him and darkness would veil everything. There would be no life on this planet.

She, as the sun, was the most reliable thing in space. He could always count on her for anything and everything and was always honest with her. In turn, she was truthful back.

He cried for a long time, loathing the feeling of having his gut being chewed on by some sort of mutt. It made him want to curl up into a ball and just sit there forever. He almost started to do just that when Tania's hand on his cheek brought him back to the present.

His flashbacks were rudely interrupted (not that he was complaining) by her beautiful face blocking his vision. His gaze focused and she looked at him worriedly. He could see a little of her teeth biting her lip and the concern in her chocolate brown eyes. Her bangs fell over her eyebrows and he had the sudden urge to brush them away before they overshadowed her gorgeous irises. He watched as his hand raised and did just that, gently pushed away the strands from her face only to have them fall back a moment later.

"Let's go to bed," she suggested quietly.

He nodded and wiped at his face with his right hand. His cheeks were probably even more black now but he could have a shower later. Right now, all he needed was Tania.

The two of them stood up on shaky legs. His own had pins and needles and he grimaced at the little pricks and burns of his calves as he put weight on them. He reached into his uniform through the collar for his pocket watch, protected by the bullet proof fabric of the star to check the time. It was half past ten.

He saw the small smile on her face at the sight of his matching watch and he returned it with minimal force. He replaced it and wrapped an arm around her shoulders while she snaked hers around his waist. Together, they made their way to the elevator.

Once they were in their room and the pins and needles had worn off, Tania seated him on the bed and kneeled in front of him. He was staring blankly into space. She caressed either side of his jaw and stared into his eyes, waiting for him to make contact.

He couldn't resist and locked gazes with her. "Do you feel up to a shower?" she asked.

He shook his head. She nodded in understanding and stood up. "I'll be right back."

He didn't want her to leave but he let her go. She would be back. She'd seen this part of him before; she knew what he was like. She would not be gone long. Still, with her presence gone, he clutched the sheets tightly and glared at the carpet of their room as if it was its fault he was feeling this way.

True to her word, Tania returned from the bathroom in less than a minute with a cold, wet face cloth. She kneeled in front of him again and began to dab at his face. His muscles relaxed instantly and he sighed. The cold felt nice in comparison to the heat he just came from. It was a nice contrast to the fire that killed- he stopped his thoughts in their tracks and clenched up again. She took notice.

She peeled off his gloves and made quick work of cleaning his hands before moving to sit behind him on the bed and unzip the back of his uniform. He helped her take it off and tossed it aside once the boots were removed. He was left in his boxers.

Because of the suit, the only real places he was dirty were his face and neck. His hair was also quite filthy. Once she had massaged the cold water into his neck and back, she squeezed the remaining water onto his head. He barely reacted. She ran her fingers through his hair and he hummed in pleasure. It felt incredibly nice. He was so lucky to have her.

She gently tried her best to remove the dirt with her fingers and a face cloth for several minutes. When she was satisfied, the cloth had long become lukewarm and she went back to the bathroom to dip it in ice cold water yet again.

As a super soldier, Steve's temperature was hotter than the average human. It wasn't by much, but it was a noticeable few degrees. That's why the heat of the fire didn't necessarily bother him as much as it should have, but even he couldn't dive into that pile of cars for too long a period of time. That was also why the cold of the cloth felt so perfect on his skin.

When she came back and pressed it against his muscles, he moaned and dipped his head back. She rubbed all along his torso and massaged his muscles with her other hand. She was no masseuse by any means, but her touch always sent shivers down his spin and this time was no different. He could feel the embers burning somewhere in his mind but he didn't feel the heat. It was good.

Eventually, he turned to thank her but instead found himself face to face with someone who was almost as exhausted as he was. How could he have been so blind? She was like the walking dead and here he was, absorbing all of her attention for himself in his pity party.

He took the cloth from her hands and applied it to her forehead. She chuckled but didn't protest as she shrugged off her blazer. She removed the elastic from her hair and let it fall around her shoulders.

With it being winter and all, the Tower had been specially designed to keep all floors at the perfect temperature for sleeping or doing whatever activity that floor was designed for. In Steve and Tania's bedroom, it was decidedly warm. With that in mind, Tania didn't take off her blouse or her skirt. Not only that, but even though they had seen each other naked on a few occasions, Steve was still a little uncomfortable seeing and not doing anything about it. It was a little odd, she found, but she also found that she didn't care. If he wasn't comfortable with it than she would be do whatever he was comfortable with.

She lifted her hands to rest on both sides of his head below his ears and touched her lips to his with the softness of a butterfly. "I'm here," she whispered.

"I know," he answered back. "So am I."

She grinned slightly. "I know."

He ran the cloth down her face before kissing her nose, her eyelids, her cheek bones, her chin, her lips… everything on her face. Her eyelashes fluttered and she stared at him lovingly. She grasped his wrist to stop his hand and buried her face in his neck. He wrapped his arms around her tenderly and helped to settle them on the bed further up near the pillows.

They ended up spooning. He was obviously the big spoon and he cuddled her into his chest protectively. He nuzzled his nose into her hair and inhaled. Her scent never ceased to capture him. In this position, he was able to hold onto the one thing that kept him afloat, that prevented him from sinking like a rock in the ocean that was his guilt.

This position also allowed Tania to feel like she was cared for and protected with his arm around her.

_"Please! You have to trust me! I won't hurt you! I promise. You are going to be safe in my arms, okay? You'll always be safe there. No matter what. Just let go. I'll be here to catch you."_

She remembered that moment very vividly. She had been dangling from a tree and he was panicking down below, afraid she would fall. They both knew that falling was greatest fear. She was learning to slowly overcome it but it hadn't fully gone away quite yet. She smiled as she remembered what he'd said, what he'd promised to her. Right here, in this bed, snuggled into her boyfriend's chest, she felt safer than anywhere else. She knew that that feeling wouldn't change – no matter what happened. She sighed and closed her eyes as sleep overtook them both.

**A/N. Awwwwwww! Am I right? XD**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N. Hello :) Here's chapter five. Hope you like it. Enjoy :D**

**Disclaimer - I do not own the Avengers because they belong to MARVEL/Disney**

CHAPTER V

_Fire burned in his very core, right where his heart should be. Flames engulfed his vision. Heat boiled in the air around him. He could hear so clearly the screams of people dying, burning, mourning. The pile of cars was barely visible through all of the orange and red and yellow. He had to get to them. He had to. He had to save all those people. He couldn't just leave them there._

_He took a step forward. Then another one. He was running but he wasn't going anywhere. Something tugged at the burning in his heart and it began to spread. He was being pulled backwards, away from the civilians he could help – those he could save but COULDN'T._

_He cried out when he lost his footing and thought he would slam forward into the ground of the bridge; but there was nothing there. He fell forward alright and kept falling, flipping over and over again. The heat was spreading through his torso up his arms, legs, and neck. He felt like he was one fire but there were no flames to be seen. It burned painfully in his blood and he felt like he was being slowly killed._

_He screamed in anguish as the heat engulfed his entire body and he exploded in flames. It hurt like hell. Everywhere stung. He couldn't see any skin, just fire. It was so agonizingly hot and even his face and his insides burned._

_That was when he landed in a body of ice cold water. The change was so immediate, so sudden that is stung like a thousand bees all at once on every part of him. He opened his mouth to scream again when the water invaded it. He tried to move, to swim, but he was paralyzed. He couldn't move anymore._

_His feet were going numb with cold and the feeling of ice was slowly creeping up his legs. He was having a panic attack. Not this. Not again. Please. The ice continued its journey up into his torso and he could see the ice now, coming up to meet his face. If he allowed the ice to take him, he would lose everything he had. He didn't want to be found another seventy years later to learn that everyone he loved was dead._

_Tania. No, he couldn't leave her. Tania! He fought harder but it was a useless battle. His hands and arms were now completely frozen in place. He wrenched his neck back and forth, probably giving himself whiplash. The ice creeped up his throat and crawled around his face until he was frozen solid in the ocean and couldn't move anymore. So much ice..._

Steve shot up from the bed with a loud gasp. Beside him, Tania jumped and her eyes shot open. Steve was panting hard. He moved his limbs and looked at his arms and body for any fire or ice. He was sweating and somewhat hot but it wasn't painful. He was awake. He was okay. He wasn't frozen again. He wouldn't have to leave Tania and the others. Tania!

He turned and hugged her to his chest. She was barely conscious of what was going on but she hugged him back anyway. He was extremely sweaty but it wasn't like she cared. She was sweating herself a little bit too.

His chest rose and fell dramatically with each breathe he took and he couldn't seem to slow it down. She knew he could, but from when he was little and had asthma, hyperventilating wasn't something you could stop easily. He could never do it himself. His mother always had to help him, and if not her then Bucky did it. After Bucky it was Peggy and Howard. And now he had Tania.

She pulled away a little and took his face in both of her hands. She stared directly into his eyes as his right hand came up to grasp her left wrist for something to hold onto. "Steve, it's okay. Whatever nightmare you had, it's gone. I'm here. You're here. Nothing is happening. The past is the past. You can let it go. You can relax. Breathe deeply. Follow me."

She inhaled slowly. He copied her with some difficulty. She exhaled, counting to ten in her mind. He mimicked her. This continued for four more breaths until he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers. He was more than capable of having himself breathe deeply, but it was a hard habit to break that he kept thinking he couldn't do it himself.

Tania's heart rate calmed and her worry descended a little into concern. "Do you want to talk about it?"

His muscles contracted and relaxed again periodically, as if testing to make sure they hadn't stopped working. After a few seconds of silence, he shook his head. "No, but I'm going to anyway."

She smiled a little. "That's my Steve. So brave."

He chuckled darkly. "Yeah. So brave."

"It's true. Now where would you like to start?" she shifted so that she sat next to him, hip to hip, with both arms around his waist and her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his own muscled arms around her and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, resting his own on top of hers. He closed his eyes.

"It started as I was back with the people on the bridge. I couldn't save them. Something was physically holding me back. I tried to move forward but I couldn't. My heart was… was burning. I felt like I was being cooked alive. And then I fell and was totally on fire. It hurt like… like I can't even describe. Anyway, I fell into the ocean and I slowly froze to death."

"Are you skipping anything? That was a pretty short description."

He shook his head again. "No. A lot of it was just pain. And fear. Mostly pain."

She sighed and squeezed his middle. "I'm sorry Steve."

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but I don't know what else to say."

He laughed once. "Me neither. Just you being here helps though."

She hummed and snuggled closer to him if that was possible. She reached for the watch around her neck and checked the time. She squinted in the darkness but couldn't see it.

"It's two thirty-three," he told her. Being a super soldier and all had vastly improved his eyesight. It wasn't like night vision, but it was close. He could see more clearly in the dark than the average human. She nodded and yawned. "I'm sorry I woke you."

"Mm, don't be," she mumbled. "I'm glad I could help. Sure, it wasn't the most ideal way to be woken up but it was to you and that's all that matters. Don't ever hesitate to wake me if you need me, okay? I'll always be here for you."

"And I you." He kissed the top of her head again and slumped back down so that they were both lying down. She was now firmly resting her head on his chest and he had one arm slung over her waist while she fell back asleep. He observed her peaceful face with fondness and adoration in his eyes. He adored her, he did. He didn't think he could live without her. At least, not very well.

He stayed awake for the rest of the night, or rather morning, feeling that he had had enough sleep to last him a lifetime. When JARVIS sounded the alarm for Tania to get up for work, he closed his eyes. Tania would be angry with him if she found out that he hadn't slept. Behind his eyelids, he could see the light slowly getting brighter as the curtains opened seemingly of their own accord.

Tania groaned and shifted above him. He listened as the sheets rustled and Michael Bublé played softly in the background. She pushed off of him but hovered there. He could feel her breath on his face and it didn't smell all that nice but he couldn't complain. He hadn't brushed his teeth since yesterday either.

She kissed his nose lightly. "Wake up Dear. The day has started."

He smiled and inhaled deeply, shifting a little in the bed as he slowly opened his eyes. In return for calling her Darling, Tania had taken to occasionally calling him Dear. It wasn't often that she did so but when she did, he always felt a warm and pleasant feeling inside. "Good morning Darling," he returned. It was always nice to wake up to her beautiful face.

"Sleep well?" He could see the deeper meaning in her eyes.

He hesitated to answer. "Not really," he replied cryptically. She nodded and pecked his lips before backing up. He pushed himself up onto his elbows as she stood up from the bed and made her way over to the closet they shared.

She sorted through them until she found a baby blue blouse and a matching navy blazer and trousers. She grabbed a towel and brought it all with her (along with some undergarments) to the bathroom, where she would take a shower.

When he was alone, he sighed and leaned back on the bed. He listened intently as the water turned on and she stepped in. He waited. Sure enough, she began singing.

_Summer turned to winter_

_And the snow it turned to rain_

_Then the rain turned into tears upon your face_  
_I hardly recognize the girl you are today_  
_And God I hope it`s not too late_  
_Mm, it`s not too late_

_`Cause you are not alone_  
_I`m always there with you_  
_And we`ll get lost together_  
_Till the light comes pouring through_  
_`Cause when you feel like you`re done_  
_And the darkness has won_  
_Babe, you`re not lost_  
_When your world`s crashing down_  
_And you can`t bear the thought_  
_I said, babe, you`re not lost_

_Life can show no mercy_  
_It can tear your soul apart_  
_It can make you feel like you`ve gone crazy_  
_But you`re not_  
_Though things have seemed to change_  
_There`s one thing that`s still the same_  
_In my heart you have remained_  
_And we can fly, fly, fly away_

_When your world`s crashing down_  
_And you can`t bear the cross_  
_I said, baby, you`re not lost_

Those lyrics in particular made the smile on his face stretch wider. He loved listening to her singing in the morning. It always revitalized him and made him feel ready for the day.

He waited a little bit longer for Tania to exit the bathroom. He pecked her on the lips as he passed her and took the shower for himself. He didn't know how long he was in there, just standing under the water, but when he got out, Tania was nowhere to be found. She had however left him an outfit on the bed and he couldn't help but shake his head and smile. He for the life of him couldn't dress himself to the style of the twenty-first century, no matter how hard he tried.

He dressed himself in the black pants and undershirt as well as the red, white, and blue plaid collared shirt which he buttoned up three quarters of the way. He made his way to the elevator as he checked his watch. Damn. He'd missed breakfast. He hardly ever missed breakfast. Now everyone was going to know something was up. Great.

* * *

All day, as Tania worked and made preparations for the trip, she couldn't stop thinking about Steve. He popped up no matter what she was doing and was usually pretty easy to ignore, but it was still bugging her and tugging at the back of her mind to check up on him. She texted him throughout the day and kept an ongoing conversation with thirty minute intervals between replies.

Apparently he was in their gallery/studio painting. She expected nothing less after the day he'd had. She told him that she would join him after dinner.

As she searched valiantly for her laptop in her office, the sound of the door flying open automatically caught her attention and she looked up from searching the drawers of her desk. Pepper stood in her doorway with her laptop in her hands and a raised eyebrow on her face.  
Tania blushed a little and accepted her computer from the red head. "Thanks, I was wondering where I put it."

"It was in the lounge on the counter. You must have left it there last night after something else caught your attention."

"Oh. Yeah. Steve… he needed me."

Pepper nodded. "I understand. Tony is the same." She wandered over to Tania's desk and eyed the papers scattered above it. "How are the preparations coming along? Is the hotel booked?"

"Yup."

"The flight?"

"Since yesterday."

"Have you packed?"

"It's on my to-do list for today."

"Do you really want to go?"

"I- wait what?"

"I said, 'do you really want to go?' " Pepper placed one hand on the desk and leaned forward."

Tania stuttered. "Um, well… I guess. But I mean… I feel bad that I'll be leaving Steve so soon after a horrible mission like that."

"I don't know the details of the mission, just that it went wrong. But I'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not you're presence is really needed at this meeting or if you're needed here more."

"I… I don't know. Steve seems to be doing fine, if a little depressed. And the MA department is essential to a merge."

"I could send someone in your place."

"Well there is Drew… but I honestly don't think she or any of the others would be up to it."

"So you think you should go?"

She bit her lip in indecision. "I do, but I'll talk to Steve about it later today and have an answer for you by tomorrow morning."

"Sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Banks."

"Good-bye Miss Potts."

* * *

Later that evening, after dinner, Tania followed Steve to their gallery. He showed her all the paintings and sketches he'd created just today and she was honestly still amazed at the depth and the emotion behind each and every one of his masterpieces. They were all so breathtaking.

She eyed the sketch of the two of them at the coffee shop with a smile. It was framed on the wall to the left of the entrance and she loved it there. She looked around the room and observed the paintings of fire and ice clashing and the sketches of burning cars and people melting. The horror.

She had to turn away from that one. She faced Steve. He wasn't any over it this morning than he was yesterday. He needed a firm kick in the butt to get going again. She wasn't the person to do that. But from what he'd told her, she might just know someone that would…

"Let's go somewhere tomorrow," she blurted. It was out of the blue but she was confident that this would work and she needed him to agree with her to come along.

He paused just before his brush was about to his the canvas. "Go somewhere?" he repeated.

She nodded. "Yeah. Let's how have breakfast at our coffee shop and then I want to take you somewhere. We can borrow one of Tony's many cars or we can take your bike but I don't think either of us would want to this time of year."

"What's wrong with a taxi?"

"The place I have in mind is a little far. Don't worry; we'll be back in plenty of time for nightfall. I also think that it's better for privacy."

"Where are we going?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

"Tania…"

"No, no! Trust me! I know someone who can help you get out of your little slump."

"I'm not in a slump."

"Fine. Your depression. Whatever you want to call it."

"Tania…"

"Look, my comforting you might make you feel better, but it's not making the guilt go away. I need something to make it go away and I know just the thing. So tomorrow, you and I will be going for a drive so that I know I can go to Philadelphia without having to worry."

He smiled slightly. "Thanks I guess."

"You're welcome. Now. Where were we?"

The two of them spent the rest of the evening painting and drawing and talking about little things like the weather and people's Christmas presents and what not. Later on, while Steve was in the bathroom, Tania sent a text to Pepper.

_I'm going to Philadelphia :)_


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N. hey hey :) Another two updates in one day? WHAT? I must have no life xP So here is the Stania mini road trip! Hope you like. Enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer - The Avengers do not belong to me, and neither did that Michael Buble song I used that chapter. I own Tania and Graham and any other OCs or people you don't recognize.**

CHAPTER VI

Tania gripped the steering wheel firmly with both hands and stared out the front window of the car. It was Bruce's. Tony had steadfastly refused to let her borrow one of his cars unless he was the one driving so the good doctor had offered up his own, seeing as he never used it.  
The bright green vehicle wasn't exactly conspicuous, more like ostentatious, but because it was never used, the press didn't suspect that any of the Avengers might be inside.

Steve sat beside her in the passenger seat, fiddling with the box in his lap. Tania had given it to him and told him not to open it until they got to their location. There were air holes in the box so there were only so many things it could be.

The two of them had left early that morning to walk to the coffee shop together, bundled up nicely. Tania wore a black pencil skirt with thick grey tights and tall laced up black winter boots. She also wore a black wool jacket with a cinched waist and large white buttons. Her red, white, and blue scarf was tucked into the collar of her coat and her hair was in a nice bun behind the matching ear muffs she wore on her head.

Steve was wearing beige trousers, thick brown winter boots, a vintage dark brown leather jacket (a gift from Pepper for Christmas) zipped all the way up to the top and his Captain America gloves. He stuffed his hands in his pockets like Tania did though so that no one would notice. The two of them had walked side by side until they reached the restaurant, where they entered quietly. They had talked to the owner long ago and made an agreement not to ever sell them out to the press. He himself came in and greeted them whenever they stopped by and made sure no one ratted them out. That morning had been no different.

After he had seated them at their usual table, they had ordered breakfast and made small talk. If Steve was being honest, their conversation was amicable but awkward. He didn't like the feeling of not knowing what to say to her. It made him feel like all this progress in their relationship had been for naught.

And then in the car, they had turned the heat up to the maximum and rode silently while listening to the radio. It had been about twenty minutes when Steve decided to look up from the box and out the window. He did a double take.

"This is Brooklyn," he pointed out lamely. He was surprised to say the least. Sure, he'd been to his hometown a few times since he'd woken up from the ice, but never with anyone. Not since his time travel with Tania.

"Yes it is," she confirmed, not taking her eyes off the road. She turned the steering wheel slightly as they rounded a corner.

"Why are we in Brooklyn?"

"There's someone here I think you need to talk to."

"Who?"

"If I didn't tell you yesterday, I'm not going to tell you today."

"Can you at least tell me what's in this box?"

"Not until we get there. Besides, I think you'll understand when we arrive."

He sighed. He was losing patience with this. He hadn't been in that great a mood since yesterday and he was honestly just wanting to go home and sketch some more.

Another fifteen minutes passed when Tania pulled up to a cemetery. A cemetery in Brooklyn. He paled. She unhooked her seatbelt and stepped out of the car after removing the keys from the ignition. She slammed the door shut and walked over to his side when he didn't move. She opened his door.

"You know, I think it's supposed to be the other way around," she joked, leaning her elbow on the door as her breath came out in white puffy clouds from the cold.

He gripped the box tightly. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I told you. You need to talk to someone and I know who you need to talk to."

"No you don't."

"Don't fight me on this Steve, please. Just try it." When he still didn't move, she sighed. "You can open the box now."

He looked down. He was only going to open it because he'd been curious the entire ride here and he wanted to see if his guess now was right. At least, that's the reason he told to himself when he lifted the lid. Inside was a small bouquet of lilies.

"I don't know what his favourite flower was or what your favourite flower was, so I ended up with my own. I hope that's okay."

He sucked in a breath. "It's… it's fine."

She held out her hand, bare and to the cold. "Come on." She nodded her head in the direction of the entrance. He eyed it for a moment before unbuckling his seatbelt and taking her hand as he exited the car. She closed the door and they turned to face the graveyard together. There was a very thin layer of snow covering the ground and it was rather cloudy in the skies up above. It would probably snow soon.

The two of them made their way inside as Tania locked the car and observed the dozens, maybe even hundreds of gravestones dotting the ground. Steve had a giant lump in his throat as he stared at all of these people's graves. He forced himself to keep going. They walked until they came upon two headstones, side by side.

_Grant Pierce Rogers_

_Soldier_  
_Husband_  
_Father_

_Anne Marie Rogers_  
_Friend_  
_Wife_  
_Mother_

Steve felt the tears welling up in his eyes. He bowed his head and knelt down in front of them. Tania rested a hand upon his shoulder as a sign that she was there for him. He grasped her left hand with his own over his right shoulder and stared at the rocks in front of him.

His mother's body lay somewhere beneath him. His father's body lay there too, next to that of his wife's. Steve was assaulted with flashbacks of his parents. He hardly remembered his father, but he knew small things. He remembered his voice, singing him to sleep as child. He remembered the Earthly smell when his father held him. He didn't remember a face. Yet it haunted him.

He knew his mother longer, and remembered her perfectly clear. She had long blonde hair that she curled every morning. She had always been the best cook to him – making do with what they could scrap up during the Great Depression. He remembered the dimples in her cheeks when she smiled and the hollowness of them after she got sick. He remembered how thin and frail she had become. He remembered one time she'd almost fallen down the stairs when he had pulled her hand and managed to have her fall on the ground instead. He remembered calling the doctor but not much more of that day. He remembered her telling him she loved him and how proud she was of him. He remembered that she told him to be good, and how much he thrived to do just that each and every day. He remembered when she closed her eyes and took one final breath.

He gasped. It wasn't the nineteen twenties anymore. It was two thousand and thirteen. Instead of staring into his mother's face, he was staring into her tombstone. He wiped away the tears before they even came as Tania gently pried the flowers from his clenched fists. She plucked two of the lilies and placed them on Anne's grave, and then two more and placed them on Grant's.

There were still two left. She held out her hand again. "Let's go. There's still someone I think you need to talk to." He grabbed her hand and pushed himself to his feet. When had it started snowing? The delicate flakes fell gracefully from the sky as if in an everlasting dance. He let her lead him a bit further to the left and down a few rows until they reached the grave that made his mouth go dry.

_James Buchannan "Bucky" Barnes_  
_Soldier_  
_Friend_  
_Brother_

He sobbed. The train. The fall. The scream. He couldn't save him. Wasn't fast enough. Wasn't close enough. Wasn't enough. He didn't register that Tania was speaking until she was already mid-sentence.

"… was always the one to look out for you. Help you out of sticky situations. Pick you up and dust you off when you were down. I also firmly believe that he would tell you to stop blaming yourself for the bridge incident and move on. I've never met him though. I want you to tell me what he'd say."

He chuckled. "He'd tell me to get off my ass and do the right thing: focus on the present rather than the past."

"He sounds wise."

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "That man once bought a bottle of beer and practically shoved it down my throat when I was underage. He was anything but wise."

"But he is right, you know."

Steve sobered up and the smile fell off his face. "I know."

"Do you want me to give you some privacy?"

He pursed his lips. "Just a little."

She nodded. "I understand." She passed him the flowers and walked away. He watched her go. She found a nearby stone bench beneath a blossom tree and sat on it. She shivered and crossed her legs, stuffing her hands in her pockets for warmth.

He turned back to Bucky, even if he wasn't really there. His body had never been found. This was just a tombstone over ground with no coffin or anything. He remembered that it had cost him good money to get it done and that he'd never gotten the chance to come home and see it before he crashed.

He knelt down and delicately placed the flower in front of the grave. "Hey buddy. It's me again. I know the last time I came to see you was after I first woke up but I'm back. That girl you just saw was Tania. She's my girlfriend." He laughed as if Bucky had just said something funny.

"I know, I know. Never thought I'd snag a dame either." He turned and looked at her. She was quietly humming to herself and bouncing her leg up and down. He turned back. "But she's the most amazing woman I could have ever asked for. She's perfect Bucky, just perfect. It was her idea to come here. I have to say that it might be one of her better ones.

"I miss you. I was at a friend's wedding the other day it got me to thinking. I always thought that if I ever got married you'd be my best man. Hands down, no substitutions, just you. But now you're gone. So obviously that's not going to happen. But I want you to know that it would have been you. If all this had never happened then it would have been you.

"So there's a lot to catch up on, but the main reason I'm here is because… well… I guess I need some advice." He adjusted his position and sat cross-legged in front of the tombstone. "Recently, there was a giant pileup of cars on the bridge in Manhattan. I saved one cop's life but because I did, everyone left in the pile of cars blew up and died. I know that sounds far-fetched but that's what really happened. Not to mention that I almost killed Clint, one of my team mates and friends, in that fire. If it weren't for the fact that he wasn't trapped inside a car like the others, he would have died too. And it would have been my fault.

"I could have stopped it all from happening. I could have saved them all. But I followed my gut instincts and I just… I didn't think. I didn't weigh the pros and the cons I just did it. And now I have to pay the price.

"You'd probably tell me that I'm being stupid. That it's okay to feel guilty but not okay to dwell on it. I guess you're right. I shouldn't let my guilt affect the way I act around others. It might affect another mission and the consequences might be even worse.

"You were always one to be blunt. Sometimes that was a good thing, other times, not so much. But I think today is one of those times where it's a good thing." He waved Tania back over with a small smile as a gentle breeze tugged at his hair. She looked up and made her way over. She knelt down next to him and waved sheepishly at the headstone.

"Hi." She wasn't unfamiliar with talking to dead loved ones via the rock on top of their dead body. She had done so a few times with her Aunt Gemma.

Steve wrapped an arm around her waist and spoke directly to Bucky. "This is Tania. She's my girlfriend and she's without a doubt the most amazing woman on the planet." She blushed and hugged his neck shyly like a little kid.

"He's exaggerating," she told him.

"Am not."

She rolled her eyes. "It's nice to meet you Bucky. I'm sorry we couldn't do this face to face but this is better than nothing I suppose. I've seen plenty of pictures. You were rather handsome, you know that?" She ignored Steve's chuckles. "I bet all the ladies were fallin' all over you. I'll bet you thought it was rather darby to have so many dames at your feet."

Steve laughed. He found it ironic that when he was depressed, the one place that could cheer him up with the graveyard. "I see you've adapted to the forties lingo."

She nodded. "You can't spend a month in the forties and not pick up a few things."

Steve turned back to his best friend. "You'd have liked her Bucky, I can tell. I bet the two of you would have been great friends."

"In case you're curious, Steve is doing just fine. He's got a whole new team but has vowed never to forget the old one. He and I are doing great and our six month anniversary is coming up on the twenty sixth. Twenty-three days and counting."

"Mmhm."

"So anyway, I just thought you should know that Steve is happy here. I figured you deserved the knowledge that your best friend is living the high life."

"The high life?"

"The good life. Living large. Living well. Living life to the fullest. You know. All together being happy."

"Ah."

"As you can see, he's still adjusting to this century but he's working on it. He's not scared of the cell phone anymore."

"I was not scared of the cell phone!"

"Yes you were! Every time it vibrated you would jump two feet in the air."

"That's because it caught me off guard."

"Uh huh, sure." She rolled her eyes.

He turned back to the gravestone. "Thank you Bucky. Even when you're not here, I know I can count on you when I need you most. Even if the same can't be said for me." Tania elbowed him in the ribs but he barely felt it. He plowed on. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you that day on the train. But I think we're both in our happy places now. And I… I forgive myself. For not being able to grab your hand. I forgive myself." An invisible weight seemed to lift from his shoulders and he sat up straighter. "Good-bye Bucky. I'll be seeing you."

He saluted him with two fingers and pushed himself to his feet with a small grunt. His butt was numb from sitting on the cold ground but he didn't care. He dusted his hands off on his pants and bent his elbow so that Tania could lace her arm through his. She smiled at him and did just that.

The couple walked through the maze of rock that made up the cemetery and eventually found the entrance again. He took one look back and whispered, "Thank you," before getting in the car.

* * *

The drive home was just as silent, with the radio playing in the background, but it wasn't an awkward silence like before. It was a contemplative silence.

He turned to her. "Thank you," he said genuinely. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"Don't worry about it," she assured him as her gaze flicked over to him briefly before returning to the road. "I expected as much."

"I should have trusted you."

"Now don't go beating yourself up about this too or I'm going to turn this car around and take us back there so that Bucky can kick you in the butt again."

He laughed. "I don't think that's necessary. But honestly, thank you."

"You're very welcome. I've always wanted to meet your friend Bucky."

He smiled. "And what'd you think?"

"He seems like a wonderful and loyal man. I bet he was a great soldier."

"He was."

"Do you honestly believe he would have liked me?"

"Of course. I'm positive he would have loved you like a sister the minute he met you."

It was her turn to laugh. "I have enough step-in siblings don't you think? Our family is rather large."

He liked the sound of that. 'Our family.' He filed away this strange feeling for later and replied easily. "A family can never be too big."

"I suppose that's true. I mean, look at Nineteen kids and counting."

"What?"

"It's a reality TV show. We'll google it when we get home."

"Google it?"

"How can you still not know that term? It's been like nine months since you woke up here. Surely you've heard of Google?"

"I've heard of it. Don't really understand what it is."

She spent the remainder of the car ride explaining Google to the ninety something year old super soldier beside her, and loving every minute of it.

**A/N. I'm sorry there are no dates on the graves. I didn't want to accidentally get them wrong and I had no internet when I wrote this chapter. Now I just want to post it. So until next time ;)**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N. Hi everyone! Here's chapter 7, hope you enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer - I don't own the Avengers.**

CHAPTER VII

The next morning, Tania woke up at promptly five thirty to catch her flight at six. She kissed Steve's forehead but didn't wake him, instead leaving him a note on the nightstand. As soon as she stood up, he wrapped his arms around her pillow and cuddled it. She giggled as quietly as she could and snapped a picture of it with her phone. It seemed that he was so used to sleeping with his arms around her that without her there, he still needed to hug something.

She dressed as fast as she could without making any noise and grabbed her suitcase before lugging it down the hallway to the elevator. It was still dark outside, with it being winter and the days being shorter and all.

When she finally made it to the helicopter pad, there was a Stark private jet waiting for her. The several other Stark employees helped her with her luggage and greeted her politely and they made small talk as they waited for the pilot to double check everything.

About five minutes after her arrival, Pepper arrived with Tony in tow. He looked dead tired and was not dressed at all for a meeting. "Good morning Pepper," she greeted brightly.

"Not really," she said in response. "Tony refuses to come with us because apparently he has to accompany Natasha on a mission as a consultant in a few hours. I'm not sure if I believe him or not."

"Oh well. One day without Tony won't kill you."

"Thank you!" Tony said, waving his arms in her general direction. "Someone sees reason!"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Fine. At least kiss me good-bye."

"Of course." He pecked her on the lips. "Have a nice trip Ms. Potts."

"Have a nice mission, Mr. Stark."

Tania turned away from the moment that seemed so personal for them. She fiddled with the ring on her finger as the pilot declared the jet ready for take-off. The employees began to board the plane when the balcony doors burst open and Steve ran outside carrying a travel mug of steaming coffee. Being a super soldier, he barely looked out of breath despite obviously rushing to get dressed and come outside to wish her good-bye.

He held up the cup to her as she stood in the ramp. "You forgot something."

She smiled and took the mug from him. "Thanks. You're the best." She kissed his lips softly. "I'll text you when we land, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay. Don't forget to have breakfast."

She laughed. She did tend to forget breakfast when the Avengers weren't home. "I won't. Love you."

"Love you too."

He watched as the door closed and she waved. He waved as well and stepped back as the jet began to emanate puffy clouds of air. The wind picked up and his hair blew back violently as he struggled to watch the jet lift off into the air before zooming forward toward Philadelphia.  
He was left with Tony on the helicopter pad, or jet pad apparently. The genius shivered. "Well, I don't know about you Cap, but I'm going back to sleep."

Ever since the whole "Mandarin" incident, Tony had stopped calling Steve, "Capsicle". They had both grown out of it and although the nicknames hadn't stopped, they were no longer insulting.

"Sounds good," he agreed. He followed his friend back into the party deck inside the Tower to see Graham sitting at the counter, twirling a bottle of whisky in his hands.

"Well good morning," Tony said in good-bye as he entered the elevator. He turned when no one joined him. "You coming?"

Steve shook his head. "I think I'll stay here for a little while. Maybe go to the gym after."

Tony shrugged. "Suit yourself. If you need me, wake Bruce." The elevator doors closed and Steve shook his head silently. He turned to Graham who appeared not to have noticed the entire exchange. He shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair before settling himself next in front of Tania's brother.

"Hey."

Graham took a swig directly from the bottle. "Hey."

"What's up?"

"Just thinking."

"Did you say good-bye to your sister?"

"Yeah, last night."

"Ah." After a small silence, Steve began tapping his fingers on the counter in place of talking. When he did open his mouth to speak, the fingers stopped tapping. "So, what are you thinking about? If you don't mind my asking."

"Tania."

"Would you mind… elaborating?"

He sighed. "She's turning twenty-five this year."

"Yeah."

"She's… old."

"I don't understand."

"She's graduated university, found a steady job, settled down in the perfect home, has the perfect relationship, a life that could never be boring… All those things are signs of her getting older. I mean, it's not exactly a bad thing but… we're not kids anymore. It just kind of hit me, you know? No more sticking together through everything, having each other's backs because she has all of yours now. Even though I'm the little brother, I've always felt like it was my job to keep her happy and safe. But that's not my job anymore. It's yours.

"This trip… her going away… it just drives home the point that she's totally independent and doesn't need me anymore. I feel like we're drifting apart even if we live in the same… Tower. I just… I miss her, I guess."

Steve nodded. "I think I get it. She's a full-grown woman who can take care of herself and has been living her own life. But that's what you've been working towards your childhood, isn't it? To watch out for each other until you don't need to anymore. You can go your separate ways now."

"But what if I don't want to go my separate way? What if I'm not ready to split off from Tania yet?"

"I'm sure she would be more than happy to stick with you for as long as you need. You two are siblings and although I've never had the honour of being one myself, I had a friend who was like a brother to me. I know what that kind of relationship is like and I know you and Tania. If you tell her this, I'm sure she'll put you first."

"I don't want to take away from her wonderful life…"

"You won't. If anything, I think some brother sister bonding would do you both some good. You guys should do something after she comes back from Philadelphia. Maybe go somewhere special for her birthday?"

"That's a good idea." A smile began to grow on Graham's face. "Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks Steve." After a beat, he held out the bottle to the Avenger. "Want some?"

Steve eyed it apprehensively before remembered that alcohol didn't affect him. He shrugged and gulped down a little. It burned his throat on the way down but there weren't any after effects. He handed it back. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I should probably stop drinking before someone besides you catches me. Tania would kill me if she found out I was drinking at six in the morning." A small smile graced his features and he hopped off the chair to return the bottle to the fridge.  
Steve stood up as well and grabbed his jacket. "Glad I could help," he mimed tipping his hat at him.

"Yeah. Me too."

* * *

On the plane, Tania and Pepper spent the majority of the ride working from their phones and occasionally talking to each other about things like work and what not. The other employees were in similar positions. Most of them were workaholics.

After they landed, the pilot stated that he would be spending the day and night visiting his brother and his family across town. He would be back the next morning to take them all home if everything went well.

Pepper checked them all into their hotel. Their rooms took up an entire floor – and that was two people a room. To be fair, it was a rather small building.

After they were all unpacked, the lot of them moved out into the stretch limo they'd stored on the jet as Happy (who'd come with them) piled them all inside. He drove them over to Arrow Inc. HQ with the help of a GPS named JARVIS.

When they pulled up in front of the building, Tania couldn't do anything but gape. The skyscraper was very tall, almost as tall as the Tower. The entire thing was roof to floor tinted windows and a definite modern touch to the architecture and design.

When they all stepped inside, the lobby was just as impressive. The colour scheme was green and black with hints of blue here and there. Flowers decorated the desks around the spherical foyer and the young receptionist was exceptionally cheery. She hugged a clipboard to her chest and had them follow her up the many stairs (too many people for an elevator) and to the meeting room on the tenth floor.

Pepper and Tania were the first to arrive. The entered a massive room with a gigantic round wooden table in the center that was really two demi-circle tables pushed together. There was a three dimensional projector in the center and maybe fifty black leather chairs around the tables with wheels on them. On one wall was a SMART board and on the other was another one. The wall across from the door wasn't actually a wall at all – it was a floor-to ceiling window like in the lounge back at the Tower. There was a jade plant in the corner that looked healthy as ever.

Andrew Green, CEO of Arrow Inc, stood up from his place at the front of the table near the door. He opened his arms wide and grinned. "Ah, Ms. Potts and company. Welcome… to Arrow Incorporated!"

Pepper smiled and walked forward, her heels clicking against the thin green carpet as she went. "Pleasure to meet you in person Mr. Greene," she said as she shook his hand.

"Likewise Ms. Potts. Now, let's all have a seat and take roll call, hm?"

The Stark employees filed in and bustled about, taking their seats at the half of the circle table unoccupied by the Arrow heads. Tania bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at that and took a seat next to Pepper. What was with companies being named after weapons and such anyway? Hammer Industries. SHIELD. Arrow Incorporated. Next thing you know, there'll be a company called Trigger or Gun or something.

She took out her Stark pad to take notes. As the meeting progressed, Mr. Greene droned on about how he had worked very hard to build this company from the ground up and did not want to tell – but he was admitting to considering it, hence the meeting. He had a ten minute speech planned about how much blood, sweat, and tears he'd put into this business and how he didn't want that gone in the blink of an eye to be lost to Stark Industries. That was where Tania came in.

She introduced herself and which department of which she was the head and stood up. She negotiated that if Stark were to buy Arrow that the name and headquarters would remain the same and that very few things would need to change. She talked about changing the advertising posters, billboards, commercials, and all that sorts of thing.

After her, came the head of Arrow's MA department. He was arrogant and prissy and Tania disliked him immediately. If Stark were to buy Arrow, she would have to work with him at least a couple times a month. Oh joy…

Hours passed and they only got through half the departments on each side before it was time to break for lunch. Yup. They were going to be here a while.

After munching on some really good hors d'oeuvres, everyone returned to their seats at exactly one o'clock sharp. They managed to get through the rest of the departments' respective speeches by ten, but still, Mr. Greene had yet to come to a decision.

Not too long after they had been dismissed, the Stark employees called Happy and returned to the hotel, dead tired and extremely hungry for the dinner they never received. There were many grumblings about how the Arrow heads had gotten them such a good lunch but had conveniently neglected their supper.

Once they had all gone off to their separate rooms, Pepper and Tania had offered to order Chinese takeout for all of them – on the house. As Pepper changed into her pyjamas, Tania made the call to a restaurant not too far away.

"Hi, yes, I'd like to place a very large order for Tania Banks and Pepper Potts. That will be ten orders of Pork Sau Mai, another ten orders of duck, twenty-five fortune cookies, five large bowls of chow men, four bowls of rice pudding, ten orders of shrimp dumplings, fifteen orders of fried shrimp, six orders of eggplant, five platters of spring rolls, four orders of Coriander, and … I think that's it." She paused, looking down the list she'd written down of what the people had wanted. She checked off everything and sighed in relief. "Yup. That's all." She waited for the person on the other end of the line to finish speaking. "Yes, that's for delivery. I'm sorry in advance by the way. I feel bad for the person who has to carry it all." Pause. "Oh okay. So when do you think you can get that here? Right. That's reasonable. And how much will that be?" She whistled at the price. "Dang. Okay, hang on. Do you take credit cards? No?" She pressed the phone to her shoulder and spoke directly to Pepper. "Hey Pepper, you wouldn't happen to have a few hundred dollars in cash, would you?"

The red head brandished her wallet with a raised eyebrow. "I'm the girlfriend of Tony Stark. A few hundred in my wallet is nothing. I've got it covered."

Tania nodded. "Great. Thanks." She returned the phone to her ear. "Yup. Cash it is. Okay, see you then. Thank you!" she hung up and fell down onto her bed. She sighed. "I am starving. I cannot wait until it gets here."

"How long did they say it would take?" Pepper asked while tying her hair up into a ponytail.

"About an hour and a half."

"I think I spotted a vending machine down the hall."

"I did too. People have been lining up there since we got here. I don't think we'll get there anytime soon."

"Hm… did you pack any food, by chance?"

"No. Just the coffee Steve gave me before he left."

"That was sweet of him."

A smile crept its way onto her face and she sighed dreamily. "Yeah, it was."

"So you two are pretty serious huh?"

"Yeah. I love him Pepper. I've loved him for a long time now."

"I know. You are two are so adorable together."

"Thanks. You and Tony are obviously made for each other too."

"Why thank you." She began fluffing up her pillow – a habit that developed whenever she caught Tony sleeping in some strange place that wasn't his bed. She would always fluff up a pillow and put it under his head no matter where he was. "We need to get your brother a girlfriend," she suggested.

Tania bolted upright. "What? What makes you say that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. He seems kind of lonely. Doesn't it bother you that he doesn't have any friends over or go out much besides school?"

"Neither do we."

"But he's still just a kid."

"He's twenty-three. He's graduating next year." She blinked. "Oh my God he's graduating next year."

"They grow up so fast, don't they?"

"Yeah…"

"So about the girlfriend, thing. Jane told me about her poli-sci intern Darcy and I was thinking they would be good together. Maybe you and I could play a little matchmaking." She winked and Tania laughed.

"I don't know about that. Playing cupid isn't really my thing. And I've never heard of Darcy. Who is she?"

"She's a twenty-something year old intern of Jane's who lives in New Mexico. From what I've heard, she's like the female version of Graham." Pepper crawled over from her single bed and made her way over to Tania's and knelt behind her. She began to braid the brunette's hair as she talked. "Apparently, she has a good sense of humour and uses sarcasm frequently – but not in a bad way like Tony sometimes does. I hear she's very pretty and a little unsure what she wants to do in life."

"Hmm… sounds like his type. But don't you think maybe… they're too similar?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean like, opposites attract, no? Look at you and Tony. The two of you work perfectly and you're almost polar opposites. You balance each other nicely."

Pepper laughed. "We don't work perfectly all the time, trust me. I think we fight way more than the average couple but we love each other immensely and I don't think I could ever leave him. And we balance each other out because we're both so far on opposite ends of the spectrum that we needed someone to tip the scale in the other direction. With Graham and Darcy it's different. They're not as far out as we are; they're closer together on the balance than us and therefore don't need to be as different as Tony and I."

"I guess that makes sense. Is there anyone else you can think of besides Darcy? You know, just for options."

"Well, my cousin's daughter just turned twenty-one last August. She's really smart and funny and she's decently good-looking. Then there's also one of our new interns in the Finances department…" she continued on like that for the next hour and a half while they waited for their food.

Eventually, the phone rang and Pepper picked up. "Pepper Potts of Stark International speaking," she greeted while painting her nails and tucking the phone into the crook of her neck. "Okay thank you. Miss Banks will be there momentarily."

She hung up and Tania sighed. The brunette stood up and wiggled her newly painted toes. She slipped on a pair of flip flops Pepper had thought to pack and made her way downstairs.

When she arrived in the lobby, there was a sign on the manager's front desk that said, "be back in teen minutes" and a man carrying a very tall stack of Chinese takeout boxes standing awkwardly in the middle of the floor. Because of the stack, she couldn't see his face.

"Um, Excuse me?"

The man peeked his head around the boxes and grinned at her brightly, his eyes crinkling with crows' feet. "Hi there."

On instinct, she smiled back. "Is this the order for Tania Banks and Pepper Potts?" Who else would it be for, seriously?

"Yes siree."

"Great. I'm Tania."

"I'm Hal."

"Well it's nice to meet you Hal. I'd shake your hand but I see they're rather full. I'll take those for you." He handed her the very tall stack of boxes and she immediately felt the weight of it drag her shoulders down into a slouch as she grunted. It was heavier than she'd expected.

"Thanks. Have a nice ni-"

A hand on her shoulder spun her around and wrapped around her throat, choking her before a knife was placed against the skin there. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might pop out of her chest.

"Make a sound and you die," he hissed in her ear.

She gulped.

**A/N. DON'T KILL ME FOR THE CLIFF-HANGER! And before you ask, yes, I had this planned all along. I'll update ASAP don't worry! :D**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N. Hi guys. I won't hold you for long, here's chapter 8. Enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer I only do for ten chapters - I do not own the Avengers.**

CHAPTER VIII

The blade dug into her skin sharply and she sucked in a breath. It was cold and hard against her skin and was oh so close to cutting through the layers to reach her blood.

Obediently, she did not make a sound. He began nudging her forward with his other arm wrapped around her neck. She took tentative steps forward. Where could he be leading her? If he took her outside, everyone would see.

He didn't seem to have the same concern as they slowly made their way towards the front entrance. It was insanely quiet in the hotel lobby. The only thing Tania could hear was the pounding of her heart and her own ragged breathing. She couldn't even register her own footsteps on the marble floor.

When they were close enough to the door, Hal removed the knife to reach out and open it. She took advantage of the moment and stomped her heel onto his toes as hard as she could. He howled in pain and she grunted before lifting the takeout boxes over her shoulder and shoved them into his face, knocking him backward enough to let go of her neck. As he recovered, she lunged for the gun but clumsily only managed to make it misfire into the foggy glass doors of the hotel.

The glass sparkled as it shattered and Tania shrieked. In her peripheral vision, she thought she saw someone enter the room before she ducked a blow to her head from "Hal" the delivery guy. When she popped back up, she "delivered" a nice palm strike to the face, effectively breaking his nose and shoving it up to his brains – at least she hoped it hit his brain. Apparently not because he threw an uppercut to her unprotected stomach and she doubled over, out of breath.

Her vision turned red and began flashing like the sirens of approaching emergency vehicles. Sirens wailed in the background but it didn't sound like police, fire, or ambulance. It was a fire alarm. She only had time to realize what it was before he clocked her in the jaw, snapping her neck to the right and throwing her off balance. She hit the floor roughly but managed to catch herself with shaky arms.

With a deep breath of determination and confidence she didn't have, Tania rolled onto her back and lifted her legs above her head so that all of her weight was on her shoulders and hands placed on either side of her head. She pushed up and sprang her body to its feet and palm-striked him again along with her momentum.

His eyes were burning with a fire that could only mean anger as he aimed his gun at her head. Without even thinking, Tania kicked her left leg up and swung at his arm, deflecting the bullet in the nick of time. Once her leg landed in a cross in front of her left, she continued turning and lifted her right leg to kick his side with her heel. He staggered and she laced her hands together to bring it down upon his back as hard as she could. His knees buckled and he knelt on the floor in front of her. She made to kick him again when he grabbed her ankle and twisted.

Not wanting a twisted ankle, Tania jumped and twirled with it. Unfortunately, that meant landing harshly on the ground yet again while he still had a hold of her ankle. When she slammed against the floor this time, something slipped out of her pocket and into her line of vision: a knife. It was the one Peggy had given her during her time back in the forties when the red head had been worried for her safety. Tania never left home without it. She never thought she'd ever have to use it though.

She grabbed it without a second thought and flipped it open. Her distraction allowed Hal to get up and wrench her by her leg, tossing her across the room. She crashed into the front desk, knocking it over. Pain erupted in her back and head and she groaned. Her grip on her knife only tightened. She would have to stab him.

The flashing red and the deafening sirens became background noise to the sounds of a huge crowd of people talking and crying reached her ears. The fire alarm had alerted them to the danger. People were coming. She struggled to sit up as Hal took aim once again. Her vision was a little blurry but she threw her blade with everything she had. She missed – by a good distance – but it scared him enough to flinch and duck. The knife wedged itself into the wall behind him as the first people started to trickle into the lobby.

Hal glared at her before putting his gun away and sprinting out the doors.

"Stop him!" she shouted, pointing at the shattered door he jumped through. No one heard her over the noise. She became aware of something warm and sticky at the nape of her neck and she reached behind her to feel it. She brought her hand in front of her face and paled. Her fingers were coated in dark, thick, blood. Her breathing quickened.

She was dimly aware of a hand tugging her to her feet by her elbow. All she heard was ringing and all she saw was red. The blood was gushing from the top of her back and she was seeing double.

Two Peppers suddenly invaded her vision and she tried hard to blink away the blurriness. Her right arm began to sting in certain places and her left ankle began to throb. She reached up to touch her throat where his hand and the knife had been. No blood.

Her feet were moving and she was being gently pushed forward. She stepped around the splintered wood of the broken bureau and towards the shattered glass, so much like the one she'd fallen from. She shuddered and averted her gaze.

She spotted her knife, stuck in the wall about a centimeter in, not even. She shrugged off the hand on her lower back and marched toward it unsteadily. She wobbled on her throbbing ankle and reached up to wrap her fingers around the handle. She yanked it out of the wall, chipping the paint, and held it in her hand.

It felt different, heavier, somehow, now that she knew she had tried to harm someone with it. She had wielded it against another human being. She had intentionally tried to hurt someone. It was self-defense, she knew, but still.

The hands were back and nudging her toward the door. She stepped carefully over the glass, only just now noticing how her left foot was missing its shoe and away from most of the flashing red.

Her vision cleared a bit and she managed to hear Pepper yell, "Call nine one one!" before her knees failed her and she collapsed.

* * *

About forty-five minutes later, Tania sat on the edge of the back of the paramedics truck that had arrived not too long ago in response to the call someone had made. The police were there as well, but they had interviewed Tania and left already, saying they would conduct an investigation as soon as possible.

So there she sat, swinging her legs back and forth on the truck as it sat parked in front of the hotel. The fire alarm had stopped and the sirens had stopped flashing. It wasn't any quieter. Cars zoomed by at high speeds, people chattered away in huge crowds nearby, and paramedics gave out orders.

Pepper hadn't left her side since they'd been reunited. She was still in her pyjamas and her hair was a mess and she was barefoot but she had not failed to remain Tania's rock in times like these. She held her hand – even though Tania insisted it wasn't needed – while the doctor plucked the multiple splinters from her arm from smashing the front desk to pieces.

Her ankle was swollen and bruised but was not twisted or sprained and would be better sometime the next day. They'd wrapped it up nice and tight just to speed up the process and help her walk. She had a concussion and a small cut on her back near the middle of her spine and her neck. It needed nothing more than a cleaning and a band aid. There were red marks on her throat in the shape of a hand and a slight bruise on the left side of her jaw and a rather large one spreading across her abdomen.

She thanked her lucky stars that Natasha had been teaching her self-defense, otherwise she might not have lasted as long as she did. She looked down at her skirt and realized it was ripped up the left side from her spinning kick and looked like a really messy slit.

"Okay, all done." Her attention was drawn back to the doctor who had just plucked the last splinter from her skin.

"Thanks," she said gratefully. The paramedic nodded her head and pushed herself to her feet.

"They weren't deep. No blood was drawn. You'll be fine."

"Okay."

Just the doctor left, Pepper brandished her cell phone. Tania hadn't even noticed the CEO calling anyone. She hesitantly took it once she saw that Pepper was in mid-call. She pressed it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Tania! Tania, Darling, are you alright?"

Her shoulders sagged in relief at his voice. "Steve. Hi. Yes, I'm fine. I'm going to be black and blue for a bit and he got away but I'm fine."

"What happened? Pepper only told me you got attacked."

"I'll tell you in person. I don't really want to relive it over the phone… or right now. It's… too soon, I guess. I'm still not even sure what happened really happened. It feels so surreal."

"I can understand that. Gosh, Tania…" she could totally picture him running his fingers through his hair anxiously. "I… you had me so worried."

"How long have you known? Like, five minutes?"

His breathy chuckle echoed down the line and she could almost feel his breath tickle her ear. "Yeah but… a lot can happen in five minutes."

"True, true."

"You're coming home tonight." His tone was firm and had an air of power to it. She recognized it as his Captain America voice. Damn his sexy voice…

"The flight isn't scheduled to leave until at least tomorrow. Our pilot is incapacitated."

"Tony pulled some strings. You'll be home within the hour."

"But how?"

"Jarvis is going to pilot the plane."

"But what about the meeting? Arrow and Stark still haven't come to an agreement as of yet. This could go on for days! I'm the head of the Marketing and Advertising department, one that's crucial to a merge that's more than likely going to happen. I'm needed here and my injuries aren't fatal."

Pepper appeared in front of her face. "I'll take care of it, don't worry about a thing Tania. You go home and rest and I'll keep your notes here. You've already given your presentation so you're fine. I wish I could come with you but I'm needed here. I'm sorry Tania."

"It's okay. I totally understand. Thank you Pepper." She leaned forward and embraced her friend with a one armed hug.

"No problem. You get better, okay?"

Tania nodded. "Okay." She returned to the phone as Pepper jumped up and sat on the truck next to her. "I'll see you tonight Steve. Or rather, this morning, I guess."

She could practically hear the relieved smile on his face as he spoke. "Thanks. I love you."

"Love you too."

"Bye."

"Bye." She hung up the phone and handed it back to Pepper. Tania declined her offer to help her off the vehicle and hopped down herself, biting her lip when her ankle throbbed painfully. She held back a cry of pain and pushed herself forward. She removed her right heel and walked back toward the hotel.

All around them, members of the local press were itching to get a closer look at Sonata and Rescue but the two of them ignored all the flashes of the cameras and the questions being hurled at them. Tania had a small limp but she could walk at relatively the same pace and they headed for the elevator to take back to their room so that she could re-pack for the flight home.

On the way there, Pepper called Tony and they had a similar discussion to Steve and Tania's, but less frantic and worried, seeing as how Pepper was completely fine. Not long after the two of them reached their shared room did Tony request to be put on speaker phone.

"Hey T, how's it going?" Every time he called her that, she thought of Howard. She would never tell him that, of course, but it was still true. She missed the Stark dad and his forties lingo and toned down yet still eccentric ways. For the first couple weeks after getting back, whenever Tony would come around, Tania would blush and remember the kiss she'd shared with his father and resist the urge to bang her forehead against whatever was around her.

At present, she didn't blush anymore but the memory still popped up from time to time. Like now. She shoved it back and forced out a reply. "Just dandy, Tony. Someone tried to kill me and he got away. And I almost killed him myself. And I'm black and blue. What else could make this night any more perfect?"

"Someone is dripping with sarcasm today."

"Someone is being an inconsiderate jerk, today."

"Tsk, tsk, Tania. That's no way to talk to your boss."

The brunette rolled her eyes as she roved around the room searching for things to repack. "Whatever Tony. Is there a reason you wanted to talk to me?"

"Just to see if you were okay."

"I am. Thanks for caring."

"You do know that I'm not a jerk all the time, right?"

Tania sighed. "I know that, Tony. I'm sorry. I'm kind of a bad mood right now. That tends to happen after being attacked."

"I've noticed. Don't worry, once you get back here we'll have Bruce check you out."

"I've already been patched up by a real doctor here."

Tony scoffed. "I am offended on Bruce's behalf. I'll have you know that he is a real doctor."

Tania rolled her eyes again as she removed her large manila folder of business notes and handed them to Pepper. "I know that. I meant a medical doctor."

"Same difference."

"Sure it is Tony." She zipped up her suitcase and lifted it with a grunt. Pepper immediately walked over and took it from her. Tania made to protest but stopped when Pepper narrowed her eyes at her.

"Don't even start. It will get you nowhere."

She sighed. "Fine. Lead the way."

"Everything okay over there?" Tony asked, unable to see any of what they were doing.

"Yeah, we're fine. I gotta go Honey, I'll see when I get back," Pepper told him.

"Alright. Love you!"

"Bye Tony," Tania called.

"Love you too," Pepper answered her boyfriend.

"You complete me!" and then he hung up.

The so-called "Business Partners" took the elevator back down to the main floor before taking a back door to the parking lot where Happy was ready. He hugged her and looked her up and down himself before dubbing her, "fine" and took the luggage from Pepper before placing it in the back of the small car instead of the attention-seeking limo.

Tania said good-bye to Pepper before getting into the front seat. Not a whole minute later, her cell phone rang. It played Live to Rise by Soundgarden and she immediately knew that it was Graham calling. That was his ring tone.

She picked it up right away. "Hi Graham."

"Tania? Are you okay? I just got the news."

"I'm fine. I'm a little sore in places and the bastard got away, but I'm otherwise fine."

"Do you know who did it?"

"No. I didn't recognize him."

"How bad are your injuries?"

"Nothing more than bruises and cuts."

"Okay." He breathed a sigh of relief. "You just love getting into trouble, don't you?"

She huffed. "I do not. Trouble comes to me."

"Same thing."

"Look, Gray, do you think you could do me a favour?"

"Sure."

"Tell the others that I'm okay. I don't want any more phone calls tonight, especially if I'm just going to come see you guys in less than an hour anyway."

"Will do, Tani."

"Thanks. You're the best."

"I know. See ya little sis."

"For the last time, I'm older than you!" She heard the click of him hanging up before she finished the sentence. "Ugh." She ended the call and threw her head back against the headrest before saying "Ow!" and deciding that that was a bad idea.

Happy had an amused look on his face. "Shut up," she mumbled.

"I didn't say anything."

"I can hear your thoughts."

"Mmhm, sure. How hard did you hit your head again?" She shoved his shoulder as he laughed before breaking out into a coughing fit. The poor guy was still recovering from that Extremis explosion but he'd refused to remain cooped up in the hospital after his coma. This trip was his one, safe, shot at going back to work.

He still had various cuts and scars on his face but he looked a lot better. She'd seem pictures of him at the hospital – it wasn't pretty.

He dropped her off at the airport and escorted her to Tony's private runway for the jet. She tugged her luggage onboard before hugging her good-bye and seeing her off from the ground. He would remain in Philadelphia so that he could drive Pepper and the other employees around as needed. He waved as the jet tore through the sky, sure that she couldn't see him but doing it anyway,

Inside, Tania settled down in the pilot's seat and grabbed the steering wheel gently, letting the AI drive but pretending she was doing it on her own. She slipped on the headphones and smiled. This might be the most fun she'd had all day.

"Hey Jarvis," she greeted.

"Good morning," he answered back.

"What's our ETA?"

"Twenty-two minutes, eighteen seconds."

She nodded. "Cool, cool."

"Are you alright Miss Banks?"

She looked at the dashboard, where the speakers from which his voice emanated were, and furrowed her eyebrows. "Yes, thank you. Why do you ask?"

"My scan of you suggests multiple points where the skin has been broken and a large swelling in your left ankle as well as dried blood on the back of your neck."

"You scanned me when I came in here?"

"Of course. Mr. Stark's frantic order for me to pilot this jet left much to be desired in terms of information. I took it upon myself to gather such intel for a reason why."

"That's… smart of you, I guess."

"Thank you."

Tania was honestly touched. Even the supercomputer cared enough to ask about her well-being. "If you scanned me and knew I was fine physically, why would you ask me if I'm okay?"

"It seems to be a human custom of sorts that fits to the social paradigm of today's standards to ask whether one is 'okay' after possibly undergoing something traumatic or upsetting."

She hummed in response. The rest of the ride was spent discussing the random details of social paradigms with an AI called, "Just A Really Very Important System" or maybe it was "Just A Really Very Intelligent Supercomputer". Or maybe it was neither. She honestly didn't know anymore. Let's just stick with JARVIS.

Twenty minutes, later, his British voice said something that made her smile: "Welcome home Miss Banks."

**A/N. I also do not own the song, Live To Rise by Soundgarden. It's one of the songs on the Avengers soundtrack that played during the credits xD**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N. Hey guys! I'm gonna be honest, I'm not too proud of the way I wrote this chapter. I don't know what's wrong really I just... I don't like it that much and I don't know how to fix it. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy :D**

**Disclimer - I do NOT own the Avengers and will not EVER own them.**

CHAPTER IX

The second Tania stepped off the jet she saw Steve and Graham waiting for her on the helipad. She dropped her suitcase and ran at her boyfriend. He caught her in his arms and swung her around a few times by the waist. She buried her face in his neck as he let her down and snuggled into his chest. Had it really only been twenty-four hours since she'd last seen him?

When she pulled away from him, she jumped on her brother. There was just something about having a brother hold you, one who was related to you by blood that made you feel better. At least in her opinion anyway.

When they broke apart, Graham kept an arm around her shoulders and grinned. "So did you kick his ass all the way to China?"

She laughed. "No, not that far. I'd say he probably made it to Hawaii."

"Nice."

The three of them walked inside to the party deck. It was obvious from the way Steve was fiddling with the cuffs of his sleeves that he was itching to ask her about her well-being, but he held it back. Seeing this, she grabbed his hand on the opposite side of Graham so that she was shared between the two of them.

When they walked in, she was greeted by everyone else, who apparently had been waiting just behind the doors. The Avengers each said hello and made sure she was okay before resuming their positions wherever they were.

"Okay, our first act should be to gather in the lab on the top floor," Tony said, taking charge and leading the way. "Jarvis, remind me to have two more elevators built into the Tower so that we can all go to one place at the same time."

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, Tania will obviously be taking the elevator. That means Cap and Graygray over there will be going with her. Natashalie and I will also go in, seeing as no one else can fit. Everyone else can take the stairs." He waved them away as the ones he mentioned entered the elevator.

The others grumbled but complied. Tania resented having to take the elevator because she was a little beat up, but she didn't complain. Her ankle did still hurt and she didn't really want to climb the stairs. Graham rolled his eyes at being called "Graygray". He had made it very clear when he moved in that only Tania was allowed to call him, "Gray". Tony had then taken to trying to find a loophole, naturally. Natasha was a little surprised that she had been included in the little group of the elevator. After all this time, she was still the most reserved of all the Avengers. Perhaps it was because she was a girl and Pepper wasn't there for the brunette at the moment. Steve agreed with Tony in that he should go because there was no in hell he was ever leaving her side.

When they all arrived at the lab after some time, Tony immediately stood up at the front of the room as if giving a speech. "Okay. Now that we're all here, take it away little Miss Piggy."

Tania rolled her eyes but stood up limped (a little) to the front of the room and took Tony's place. This did not go unnoticed by anyone. She cleared her throat. "Okay, well… um… I'll start with this morning, I guess. Don't worry, I'll go quickly. We came to Arrow, we spent all day in a meeting, nothing was decided, we came back to the hotel late at night. Pepper and I ordered Chinese take-away and it arrived an hour and a half later. I was tasked with going to get it.

"I made my way to the lobby where there was a non-Asian man waiting for me with me food. We exchanged small talk and he was really friendly and he said his name was Hal. As soon as my hands were full with the food he'd given me he had a knife against my throat. He told me… he told me that if I made a sound, I'd die.

"Oh, and the manager was on break or something, just so you know. The lobby was empty except for the two of us. Anyway, as soon as we got to the door, I managed to step on him and throw the food in his face to get away. We had a bit of a battle before someone came in and pulled the fire alarm. He tried to shoot me a couple times but I managed to stop him each time. He threw me into the front desk so hard that I broke it. People started coming in at that point and he ran away.

"Someone called the ambulance and they had me checked out. And because I'm sure you're all wondering, I have a concussion, a bruise on the side of my face, a now splinter-free arm, another bruise where my abs should be, a cut near the back of my neck, and a swollen but otherwise not twisted or sprained ankle, hence the bandage and the limping. Some of those things sting but it's easily ignorable. I'm just glad I don't have a black eye this time." She attempted to make a joke.

She swore she heard crickets. She looked around the room. A lot of them looked pissed: Steve, Graham, Thor, Clint, and Bruce were probably the angriest. Tony, Betty, and Natasha all had varying ranges of worry on their faces.

Tony stood up again, taking a grateful Tania's place as she sat down in Steve's lap. The Stark lab was big, but with so many people, there weren't enough seating arrangements so a lot of the couples had to sit together on random chairs or tables.

"Okay," the billionaire started, one hand in his pocket and the other gesturing wildly along with his speech, "First thing's first. Tania, did you tell him your name during this encounter?" She nodded. "That means that he knew it was you, which meant he was more than likely specifically targeting you. It wasn't just random."

She shivered and snuggled closer to Steve, who wrapped his arms around her protectively. "I won't let anyone hurt you," he whispered in her ear. She knew it was a promise he couldn't necessarily keep but it made her feel better anyway.

Tony continued. "Right. So if someone wants to kill you, we've got to find out who it is and stop him in his tracks. Jarvis, get the feeds of all security cameras of the lobby of the hotel Tania was in when the attack happened."

"Of course, sir."

One screen popped up from a camera above the entrance to the hotel. They watched as a man in a baseball cap entered the building and asked the manager to call someone, presumably Tania.

"He's talking to Pepper," the brunette filled in. Tony's leg twitched almost unnoticeably.

The man, "Hal," pointed to the other side of the room to another door and the manager nodded. He pulled a sign that said, "be back in ten minutes" from under his desk and put it on top. He walked off in that direction. Not long after, Tania entered.

The Avengers tensed as she moved forward and shook his hand. They had a good view of her face, but not his. He had yet to face the camera. They watched as the battle wore on, but even when the two of them faced the doors, the baseball cap prevented them from getting a good look at his face. They winced when Hal punched her in the gut and then her face, flinging her to the floor.

When she sprang back up again, Clint fist-pumped her and Natasha smiled at her with pride. Her spinning kick ignited hums of approval from around the room, even Steve, who began kissing her neck as she watched. She threw her head back and bit back a moan. The others were still entranced with the video in front of them.

When she crashed into the desk, she flinched but didn't look away. She remembered that moment vividly. It had hurt like hell. They watched as she threw a knife, seemingly from out of nowhere, at her attacker. Surprised eyes and raised eyebrows faced her and she blushed. On the screen, the knife missed its target and people started to flood in. The man turned and ran beneath the camera, still never getting a good look at his face.

When the lights came back on, Tony stood up again. "Well that was absolutely pointless. We didn't get a look at his face. Although I have to admit Sonata, that you have some serious potential as a super hero and/or SHIELD agent."

"No thanks," she declined for the millionth time.

"What if she drew him?" Graham piped up. Everyone turned to look at him as he repeated his question. "She has awesome drawing skills, would that be enough?"

Tony hummed and rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb thoughtfully. "It might, depending on the details of the picture and the way it's drawn. It's worth a shot. Then we can have Jarvis run it through facial recognition. Can you draw him, Tania?"

She nodded and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Yeah, but it might take a few hours. Sketches take time."

He nodded. "Okay. I'll need you to draw it now so that we can scan it into Jarvis. The facial recognition system will take a few hours, a few hours we can use to sleep. You get to work on that while the rest of us go to bed – I'm sure we're all tired. It's like, two in the morning."

She yawned and nodded again. "Okay, I'll see you guys tomorrow. Or later today, I guess."

"And Tania?" She looked up at him. "Glad you're okay."

He patted her on the shoulder as he and the others slowly filed out of the room. Betty gave her a hug. Bruce gave her a look with his eyes that said all he needed to say. Thor gripped her shoulder (rather harshly but she managed to hold back a wince) and nodded once, promising revenge on the man that had hurt her. Clint squeezed her hand reassuringly and Natasha surprised everyone by hugging her as well. Graham grabbed her in a teddy bear hug and lifted her off her feet before setting her down, laughing as she reached up on her tippy toes to ruffle his hair. He winked at her and exited as well, following the others out the door.

It was just her and Steve. He slowly moved forward and raised his left hand to cup her cheek. She looked up at him, letting him see the vulnerability she didn't want to show in front of the others. His eyes softened and he pulled her in for a hug. She wrapped her arms around his back gratefully and sighed into his body. She could feel one of his hands resting between her shoulder blades and the other stroking the back of her head.

His other hand brushed against the cut and she flinched. He froze briefly before pulling away slightly. "May I see?"

She nodded and brought his hands down to the hem of her shirt. He pulled it up and over her head so that she only had her bra on. He blushed (still adorable after all this time) and she turned around, letting him see the band aid the paramedics had applied. He yanked it off. She barely felt it. His large, warm, fingers traced the cut that ran from just to the left of her spine, diagonally down towards her shoulder blade. That was where one of the pieces of wood from the desk had dug into her skin. His hands moved up her back to her neck and gently pulled her hair away from her back, tucking it in front of her right shoulder.

He kissed the back of her neck before heading for the first aid kit on the wall to their right. With all the explosions the Science Bros had caused, Pepper had ordered over a dozen first aid kids to be placed in each lab in case of emergency. Steve was thankful for it as he grabbed it and placed it on the lab counter.

Tania hopped up onto it like she did with the ambulance and swung her legs back and forth while he searched for a new bandage and threw her old one into the garbage. He placed a new one on before walking around the counter to the other side so that he could face her. He twisted her face to her right so that he could observe the bruise growing on her jaw.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, afraid to touch it.

She shook her head. "Not unless I move it the wrong way when talking."

He hummed. "Did you want some ice for that?"

"No, I think I'm good. I'm already patched up. I don't see what any of this is for."

"I guess it's more for me, than for you." He sent her a sheepish smile as he let go of her chin and looked down at her stomach before frowning. An even larger bruise was turning black and blue just below her belly button. He softly pressed his hand to it and she hissed. He immediately pulled back as his eyes darkened. The bruise was in the shape of a fist.

He wanted to kill that bastard that had dared lay a hand on his Tania. He would do it himself when they found him – he would make sure of that. One thing was for sure though, if his girlfriend had become a target, then the shooter must be eliminated.

She took his face into both her hands and tilted his head upwards so that he was looking at her. It was a nice change to be taller for once.

"I'm okay," she promised, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. He grabbed her wrist and pulled away, looking down.

"I know," he responded. "I just… I need to _really_ know."

She nodded and let her hands drop back into her lap. "I get it." She held her left leg up. "Go for it."

His eyes flicked up towards her. "I don't know how to rewrap it."

"Then just look."

He gingerly took her foot into his hands and looked at it from all different angles. The bandage was wrapped tightly but it was still a bright white instead of stained with dark red. Her ankle was obviously swollen but otherwise it seemed fine.

"Anything else?" he asked as he set it down.

She shrugged and held out her right arm. "It was practically covered in protruding splinters before, but it's okay now. I'm fine."

"I've always hated those words."

"What? I'm fine?"

"No one is ever fine when they say that."

She rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Well then, I will be okay. Is that better?"

He smiled a little and stepped forward so that he was in between her legs and almost chest to chest with her. "Yes ma'am."

She grinned and leaned forward to kiss him, capturing his lips with hers. Her insides exploded with embers, just like the first time, and she felt nervous butterflies inside of her stomach that she didn't think it would ever go away. But that was okay. They were part of what made kissing him exciting.

He ran his hands up along her thighs and one along her back, tracing small circles against her spine. She shiver and sat up straighter, scooting closer to him subconsciously. He trailed his kisses down her throat again and this time she really did moan. She leaned forward, only to let out a squeak when she fell off the counter. She needn't have worried, Steve was there to catch her. The man emanated warmth and love and she could feel her legs around his waist. Hoping she hadn't broken the moment, she pulled her head away from his shoulder and looked at his face.

His eyes were twinkling. "Even though you were fighting for your life, was it wrong of me to think that you looked… what do they call it these days… Hot?"

Heat pooled in her stomach and her heart fluttered. She shook her head. "No, that's… I find myself thinking that whenever you're in uniform."  
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

She blushed. Why did she just say that? Still, she nodded.

"It seems the tables have turned, then. Because that spinning kick honestly just did me in." He pressed his lips to hers and spun her around. She giggled as the moment allowed him to switch her position so that he carried her bridal style.

"Steve… my shirt."

He paused in his route to the door, debating whether or not to go back. He shrugged. "We'll get it in the morning."

"What about the drawing?"

That brought him up short. "Oh."

She sighed. "Put me down Steve. I'm too tired for sex now anyways, no matter how much I would love to."

He set her on her feet and she groggily walked over to her shirt. She slipped it on, buttoning up the front and made her way back to him. He held the door open for her and they headed for the elevator. "I'm sorry," he apologized once they were inside and headed for their art gallery.

She shook her head. "Don't be. I wanted to, I want to, just as much you do. But I don't think it's a good idea. One, because of the drawing. Two, because I'm kind of really tired. And three, because of my, quote unquote, 'injuries'."

He grabbed her hand. "You know I would never hurt you, right?"

She sighed. "Of course, Steve. You've been exceedingly gentle with me ever since that night you crushed the counter in your hands."

His hold on her tightened. "I know. And I have good reason."

She leaned into his arm. "But you know I'm not made of glass right?"

"Of course. That spinning kick to that man's side was too powerful for someone made of glass."

She rolled her eyes. The doors pulled apart and they stepped onto their floor. Once they reached the art gallery, Tania settled onto the bench to the right of the door and sat back to back with Steve, who had decided to stay up with her and sketch as well. With her knees tucked into her chest and her feet propped up on the seat, Tania placed her pad and pencil in her lap and began to furiously draw the face she remembered from a few hours before. Had it really only been so short a time?

She began the outline to his face. As her pencil flew across the paper, she had to focus hard on Hal, and in doing so, the flashbacks came with it. When his punch snapped her jaw the pencil in her hand snapped as well, mirroring her thoughts.

She felt Steve's back muscles shift as he turned to see why she had snapped her pencil. Her fist was clutching the bottom part of so tightly that her knuckles were white and her entire arm was tense up to her shoulder. He placed a hand upon it and gently pushed it down, trying to soothe her. She took a deep breath and nodded, slowly releasing the pencil from her iron grip. It clattered to the floor. Steve wordlessly offered her his utensil instead and she whispered a quiet, "thank you".

She started on his facial features, going for the dip in his nose and the almond shapes of his eyes. He looked Caucasian now that she really saw him. Not that that helped much… When she finished drawing his long, skinny nose, she began colouring in his eyes. She drew on the baseball cap because she didn`t know what his hair looked like without it. Still, she sketched the little strands that she remembered peeking out from underneath the accessory.

After finishing his mouth, she ran her pencil down his neck in long lines, creating the folds of his skin and began dotting his chin and cheeks for stubble. She remembered the crows' feet he'd had when he's smiled at her. It had seemed so genuine at the time. Now it just seemed fake.

About an hour after she'd started, she deemed it finished enough that she didn't know any more details to add. She brandished it to Steve, who scowled at it. "It's a very good drawing," he commented before averting his eyes. His reaction instigated a chuckle from her. It was weird to see a scowl on someone's face followed by a real compliment.

"Thanks. If I didn't know any better, from the look on your face, I'd say you didn't like it."

He smiled closed-lipped. "It's not that. You're a wonderful artist. It's the man you drew that I don't like."

She nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. I don't suppose by some miracle, you recognize him and can go track him down?"

He chuckled and shook his head.

"Dang."

He turned around his own sketchpad so that she could see what he had been drawing the entire time. It was a picture of himself – but it wasn't. He was shorter, skinny, dressed like he used to, and undoubtedly happy. Beside him, a good head or so taller than him with an arm around his shoulders, was obviously Bucky dressed in his military uniform. They were both grinning and staring at you through the paper as if posing for a camera. It was incredibly life-like.

A smile crept onto her face. "It's beautiful, Steve. And you were so cute!"

He rolled his eyes. "At my age, a man doesn't want to be called, 'cute'. You can see why Bucky got all the attention."

She nodded her head. "I can. But I know that if I had been in that time and even if you hadn't gotten the serum that I would have fallen for you anyway. I'm not one to judge a person by their looks."

He smiled. "I know. And I'm sure Bruce and the others, including myself, are grateful for it."

"Good. You know what?" She swung her legs over the bench and stood up to stretch. She winced when the bruise on her abs stung with renewed vigour and she immediately lowered her arms.

"You okay?" he asked immediately, setting down his drawing and standing up next to her.

"Yeah, but you know what I was going to say? We should put that picture on that wall over there." She pointed to the framed picture of her and Steve at the coffee shop. "I think we should make it our Wall of Fame, so to speak. We'll put up pictures that really mean something to us there. Like the one of us, and then one of you and Bucky, and I think the one you drew of all of you eating Shawarma is a good one to put up."

"But those are all my sketches. What about yours?"

She shrugged. "I'll put up the one I drew of Howard and Peggy, if you don't mind, that is?"

He shook his head. "Of course not. That's a great idea."

"Cool. I also have a painting a Avengers Tower I think we could put up there."

"Perfect."

"You know, I really could go on about this forever, but I really do need to have Jarvis scan this picture."

"Right."

"Jarvis?" She looked up at the ceiling.

"Yes, Miss Banks?"

"Could you please run this picture through the facial recognition software?" She held it up towards his voice.

"As you wish." A red light appeared seemingly from out of nowhere and scanned the picture before disappearing.

"Thank you." She turned back to Steve and settled down on the bench again. "Now where were we?"

"It's almost morning."

"I know. But I don't really feel like sleeping."

"Tania…"

"Steve." She put her hands on her hips and crossed her legs, determined.

He raised an eyebrow. Before she could react, he swooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the room. She squeaked and began to struggle. "Hey! Put me down!"

"Not until we get to bed."

"Steve!" she cried out exasperatedly.

"Sorry, but you wake early every day as it is. You are going to bed. It's three thirty in the morning."

She groaned. "But I don't wanna!"

He laughed as the door to the bedroom opened for him automatically. Her childish side was making an appearance. "Well that's just too bad because I will hold you there myself until you are fast asleep."

She sighed. "Fine. You win."

He smiled. "I know."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

**A/N. I don't know what's wrong with this chapter but I actually hate it and I don't know what to do. Do you guys have any ideas for improvements on this chapter? I'll take them all into consideration. Oh and that was part of the reason this was so late btw, I couldn't figure out what to write :/ Sorry!**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N. Hiya :) Here's chapter 10 and I appreciate the feedback received for the last chapter but I think ****_for now_**** I'll leave it as is. This one is much better in my opinion, we get some spotlight on the Avengers who have been basically dwarfed by Stania fluff and for that I apologize. But don't worry, I love the others too much to not give them their time to shine every now and then xP So without further ado, chapter ten! Enjoy! :D**

**Last disclaimer of the story - I do not and will not EVER own the Avengers. That includes the remainder of the chapters of this story, for them I will not own the Avengers either. I make no money off of this. Now go read. ;P**

CHAPTER X

"Wake up Miss Banks, Captain Rogers, I have news." No response. "Miss Banks? Captain Rogers?" The couple didn't stir. If JARVIS could have sighed, he would have. He regarded the two of them, huddled together in bed, still dressed in their clothes from the day before through the security cameras Sir had installed after the "Neil" debacle. The surveillance device whirred and moved left and right a little in order to center the targets in the shot. Their statistics popped up and he viewed them all before dismissing the possibility that they were unwell. "Wake up," he tried again. They barely stirred. He increased the volume in the built-in speakers of the walls. "MISS BANKS AND CAPTAIN ROGERS, PLEASE WAKE UP."

The Captain twitched and kicked his leg out before giving a loud snore and resuming his deep sleep. JARVIS didn't have eyes to roll but the camera carried out the motion per his command. Perhaps he should wake them up the normal way, like the alarm they had set. It was only logical.

JARVIS began to play Michael Bublé through the speakers and lowered the volume to an acceptable level. His patience was rewarded when Miss Banks hummed and stirred, rolled over to face her lover as she blinked awake.

JARVIS cut the music. "Miss Banks, I have completed the scan of the drawing you have provided me."

The business woman groaned and stretched in bed, cracking her back and neck. "What was that?" She was obviously groggy and not listening.

Sounding somewhat annoyed, the AI didn't bother to repeat his statement. "After running the scan of your picture in Mr. Stark's facial recognition software for ten point two hours, the results have arrived. Do you wish to know them?"

Miss Banks slowly sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "One sec, Jarvis, let me wake Steve first." She shook her partner gently and began to coo to him while the supercomputer waited patiently for Captain Rogers to wake. When he eventually did, he exchanged greetings with his love before sitting up and turning to the ceiling.

"What have you got, Jarvis?"

"There are three matches that have come up, Captain: The first is August Zane." He summoned several holographic screens to appear in front of the two viewers as he closed the blinds and dimmed the lights. Pictures of the man himself as well of videos and pieces of his identification occupied the holograms. "It is an eighty-seven percent match and he currently resides in London, England as an accountant. He has no criminal record. More details will be provided on command.

"The next match is Henry Flannigan, of Ireland. His photo matches the drawing by eighty-eight percent and he is forty-five years old with a, as Mr. Stark would say, 'sketchy' personal background. More personal information can be provided if needed.

"Finally, the match of eighty-nine percent is Arnold Austerlitz of Germany. He is fifty-one and lives as an electrician with no criminal record to speak of. He was last seen in a hotel across town from his actual home, which he shares with his wife and three children. More information can be collected it you so wish."

The screens minimized so that there were three squares spread out in a semi-circle around Miss Banks and Captain Rogers. The two of them appeared to be wide awake at this point and rather surprised.

"They all look so similar…" she muttered, looking at the three screens with the men's driver's licences displayed.

He nodded in agreement. "And the percentages are so close together." His eyebrows furrowed together in deep thought and confusion. "How are we supposed to know who did it?"

"I am afraid there is no certain way to know, Captain Rogers. An investigation will have to be conducted."

"Do you think SHIELD would be up to it?"

"It is highly unlikely and un-recommended by Mr. Stark."

"He knows?"

"He woke up before you did." If anyone noticed or thought it was a jab, no one acknowledged it.

"Why doesn't he recommend it?"

"Because SHIELD deals with global or national threats of security and one man attempting to kill one woman does not qualify as either."

"Not even if she's an honorary Avenger?" he asked with clenched fists. JARVIS detected from his physical scans of the soldier that through this body language and higher blood pressure that he was feeling angry.

"SHIELD does not give special treatment, according to Agent Coulson before he died."

The Captain sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "So this investigation will have to be conducted by the Avengers ourselves?"

"That is correct."

The super hero threw off his sheets and got to his feet. "Jarvis, tell the other Avengers to assemble in the lounge – but also tell them that it's not an emergency, just… really, really, important and that they have to be there." He began rummaging through his closet as he spoke. Miss Banks got up to help him choose his clothing.

If JARVIS could have nodded and/or bowed like a real butler, he would have. But he couldn't, so the camera simply bowed itself before he redirected his attention to a camera that was observing Agents Romanoff and Barton.

* * *

Steve and Tania pulled on whatever clothes they could find and hurriedly made their way to the higher floor. By this point, Tania's ankle had decreased in size considerably and she could walk and run without limp. However, stairs and jumping still hurt.

When the elevator arrived at the lounge floor, the two of them ran in to find Tony, Natasha, and Clint already waiting for them. They were all seated in different positions on the huge white sectional.

"Has everyone been informed?" Steve asked instead of a greeting. He was in full Captain mode, which Tania had been seeing more and more of these days.

"Good morning to you too, Sunshine. I'm good, thanks for asking. How are you?" Tony replied sarcastically. Natasha elbowed him in the stomach and he jerked before pouting at her and rubbing his abdomen like a child.

The SHIELD agents ignored him and nodded their heads in perfect sync. "Jarvis told us everything," Clint confirmed.

Tania took a seat next to the archer as Steve remained on his feet and tapped his foot somewhat impatiently as he waited for Thor, Bruce, Betty, and Graham to arrive. About a minute and a half later, the four of them arrived in the same elevator and piled in. After everyone was seated on the couch, Steve asked if everyone had heard the news. This inquiry was met with affirmative responses from everyone so he continued.

"Okay, so there are three possible people that we know of who could have tried to kill Tania last night."

"Um, 'that we know of'?" Tony interrupted. "I'll have you know that Jarvis has the most advanced facial recognition software in the WORLD. If there is a single person on this planet that he doesn't know about, then he doesn't exist."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Okay fine. So there are three suspects. Problem is, they all look creepily alike and we have no proof that any of them did it. Not to mention that they all live somewhere in Europe."

"Jarvis suggested that we conduct an investigation," Tania piped up. "I don't think it's that bad an idea."

"She's right," Bruce agreed. "But like Steve said, they're in Europe and we have no proof."

"That's what the investigation is for, oh Science Bro of mine," Tony pointed out. "And have you all forgotten that I am a billionaire who owns a private jet? We don't even need a pilot because we have Jarvis. We can go there easy."

"I don't think we should all go," Clint threw out there. "Some of us should stay here and protect the Tower as well as Pepper when she gets back. Right now she had her bodyguard, Happy, but we won't know for sure when she comes home. Not to mention that there would be too many of us to conduct an actual investigation without looking suspicious. If you want to look at this like a mission, I'd say three people. Tops."

"I'm going," Steve volunteered immediately. "If one of those men wants to kill Tania, they're going to have a few words with me before I send them off to rot in jail for the rest of their life."

"My jet, my rules. I'm going too," Tony stated.

"Well we sure as hell can't send the two of you alone," Bruce pointed out, "You'd kill each other before you could get anywhere. You need a peacemaker to go with you. I'd go, but other than the peacemaker I don't think I'd be of much help on a mission. I suggest Clint or Natasha." He pushed his glasses further up his nose with his index finger.

"I think Natasha should go," the male assassin offered. "Her skill set may be more useful than mine on a mission like that. And she's the perfect person to keep Steve and Tony from killing each other because she'll kill them before they do."

"That's brilliantly evil," Tony deadpanned. He snapped his fingers. "I like it. Red, you're coming with us."

"What are you planning to do in Europe, exactly?" Graham asked.

"He's right. We need a game plan," Steve agreed.

"How about barging in and just asking what the hell their problem is for trying to kill one of us?" Natasha suggested, crossing her legs.

Tania smiled at being called, "one of us," and sent her a grateful look. It was returned with a very tiny but reassuring smile.

"I was thinking more along the lines of subtlety, actually," Clint spoke from next to his partner. "That is your specialty, isn't it?"

"It's both of our specialties, but yes, I agree that that would probably work better. We should go under aliases."

"You mean like, undercover?" Tony inquired.

She nodded her head. "Our faces are too well known. Anyone who's anyone knows we're the Avengers. We can't be recognized or the guilty party will know why we're looking for him and what we're going to do. It could potentially throw the whole mission to ruin."

"Aww… but I don't want to wear make up!" the billionaire whined.

"Man up, Tony. This is for Tania."

"You're one to talk, Spangles."

"You forget that I was in a travelling showcase. I have worn stage makeup before. It wasn't that bad except that I felt like my face was melting from those spotlights."

"I know exactly how you feel," Clint agreed, bobbing his head up and down. "Us circus performers had to wear tons of makeup and those lights just kill you with heat."

"Bruce, please tell me you've never worn makeup before," Tony pleaded.

The doctor blushed and sipped his tea.

The philanthropist groaned and threw his head back on the couch. "Why would you wear makeup? For what reason could you possibly do that?"

"I was on the run for a long time. Sometimes that required a disguise."

He groaned again. "Thor? You've never worn makeup right?"

"This is cosmetics, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then no. I thought 'twas only for women."

"Thank you!" Tony exclaimed, relieved he wasn't the only sane one.

"Boys!" Natasha shouted. "Back on topic!"

"So we're going undercover as… what? The police?" Steve crossed his arms in thought and looked to Natasha for guidance.

"No. Something bigger. Like the FBI or the CIA or the NSA or whatever. But in Europe."

"Can we do that?"

"I can have a real badge made for all of us by the time we get there."

"How?"

"I have contacts."

"And her weird, creepy, spidery ways."

Natasha shot Tony a glare and he looked away immediately. Everyone could see that a plan was forming. This was good. It was something they could do instead of playing the waiting game like they had been doing for the past ten and a half some hours.

"Clint can get us into contact with professional makeup artists to help with the disguises. Will have to change aliases every time we interrogate someone."

"Makes sense," the Captain agreed.

"What happens if we catch the guy?" Tony wanted to know.

"Then we hand-cuff him and bring him to the real police."

"We'll still need proof."

"Trust me, if we find him, we'll have proof."

"But how do we know he'll talk?"

Natasha smirked. "When I'm done with him, he'll say anything you want him to."

A few of the people in the room shivered in fright. Not naming names. "Okay, so that's our game plan, what about back here? I think someone else should be sent to accompany Pepper in Philadelphia," Steve said.

"I like your thinking Cap," Tony agreed. "Who's willing to go?"

"I shall protect the Lady Pepper with my life," Thor pledged, rising to his full height and placed his right fist by his heart.

Tony nodded his thanks. "Great. Jarvis will take you there and explain anything you want to know. He knows everything. Happy will tell you about being a bodyguard and Pepper will welcome you with open arms I am sure. But you are not allowed to room with her in Tania's place, got it?" He pointed a teasingly accusing finger in the thunder god's direction.

Thor's booming laugh echoed throughout the room. "I shall not go to bed with your true love, Friend Tony. Have no fear. Do not fear for her life either, for as long as I am in her presence, she will be protected by the power of Mjolnir."

"Thanks Point Break. Knew I could count on you."

"Bruce, Betty, Graham, and I will stay here and keep an eye on Tania and the Tower. We'll keep in constant contact and use those comms you invented when necessary. Update regularly, I don't care what time zone you're in." Clint narrowed his eyes at the three of his teammates heading off to Europe.

Tania scoffed. "I don't need to have an eye kept on me, thank you very much. I'll kick anyone's ass if they try to get that close to me again."

Chuckles reverberated around the Avengers but it seems that no one had changed their minds. "Tania, I know this bothers you, but this is more for us than for you," Steve pointed out. "We just want to know you're safe. I don't think you should leave the Tower."

"What?!"

"You hardly leave it anyway, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Plus, you work here."

"I'm on holiday."

"You just went to a business meeting in another city."

"Touche."

"You're still not going."

She groaned. "Steve…"

"Please, let's not argue about this."

"Why not? I deserve to have a chance to go outside when I want to!"

"Where would you go?"

"I… I don't know but I-"

"Exactly!"

"Steve!"

"Okay," Graham interrupted, "I think we've seen enough of the couple's spat. Save that for later." Tania and Steve both huffed but stopped bickering. "Now, I have a question. How can any of these guys be in Europe if they were in Philadelphia _last night_?"

Silence. No one had thought of that, apparently. Graham sat up straighter, taking pride in the fact that he had thought of something the Avengers (his all-time IDOLS) had not.

"J?" Tony looked up.

"That is where the suspects were last seen, Sir. There is no evidence of any of these men going to or living in the United States within the past five years. However, that does not mean that they are not here. It simply means that they are very good at hiding."

"He brings up a good point. Keep running that face recognition program and notify any and all of us when you have a hit."

"Yes, Sir."

"Even so, we don't have any more leads. Europe is all we've got."

"So where to first?" the red headed assassin inquired, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"I say we got England first," Tony said. I've always wanted to see Big Ben."

"I second that," she agreed.

"Whatever you were about to say, Stars 'N Stripes, you're outnumbered."

"Well, the one in Germany has the highest match-"

"England it is!" Tony exclaimed over Steve's comment so that no one could hear him. "Besides, the percentages are all close enough that it could be any one of them. Hey T, you sure you don't know which one it is?"

Tania shook her head.

"Okay then. The three of us need to go pack. Avengers! Disassemble!"

Thor, Tony, and Natasha all went to the elevator to head down to their rooms and pack for Europe and Philadelphia while Steve stayed behind with Bruce, Clint, Betty, Graham, and Tania.

The Captain plopped down on the couch next to his girlfriend who had her arms crossed and was glowering at him. He sighed. "Look, Tania, I-"

"I'm hungry for lunch," she interrupted him and stood up. "Did you guys have lunch yet?"

"There's some leftover spaghetti in the fridge," Betty answered for her.

Tania nodded her thanks and walked over to the kitchen portion of the lounge. Steve watched her go with mild annoyance. Perhaps this wasn't the time anyway. They should wait until they were alone. His own stomach rumbled and he got up to join her.

As he passed Clint, he whispered, "Take good care of her." The archer winked and gave him the hand symbol for "A-okay".

As Tania placed the leftover food in the microwave a little harsher than usual, Bruce and Betty opted to go back to their room and finish whatever they had been doing before they had been called. Clint and Graham exchanged a look before wordlessly exiting with them. The agent was headed to the gym for some target practice with the university student had to catch up on some last-minute homework.

Steve and Tania were alone. As the micro-wave emitted a quiet humming sound, the head of MA began tapping her fingers against the counter in wait. On the other side of said counter, Steve reached over and placed his hand over hers, stopping the incessant tapping mid-pattern.

"Tania."

"Steve."

It was obvious that neither of them were backing down any time soon. This particular moment reminded Steve of a conversation he'd once had with Peggy.

_"She's something, isn't she?" _

_"She's stubborn is what she is." _

_"Like you?" _

_He looked up at her and she gave him a closed mouth smile. He returned it and chuckled a bit. "I prefer the word determined."_

They were both rather stubborn and determined. In this context, that would be a bad thing. "You should stay in the Tower."

"No."

"You are more safe here, than anywhere else in almost the whole world."

"Do you not remember when I was kidnapped by Neil? He got me while I was still in the Tower. I was in this very room when his threw me out a window and I thought I would fall to my death!"

Steve winced. "All the more reason to be careful and stay here. Even if being kidnapped here is still a possibility, you are more safe here than anywhere else."

"I know that! You don't think I can make my own decisions? You don't think that I would have decided to stay here anyway for my own protection? Do you think I'm stupid or something?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Then what is it? Do you think I'm reckless?"

"No!"

"Do you not trust me to value my own life?"

"No! Tania, listen to me. I want you to stay safe and this is the best option-"

"How can I listen to you when you're not listening to me? Did you not hear a word I've just said? I value my life, and therefore will do all I can to protect myself. That includes staying in when I think I need to stay in."

"Tania you know I trust you with my life-"

"But you just don't trust me with my own, is that it?"

"Would you stop interrupting me? Look. I love you, okay? I want you to be safe and I am going to take every precaution to do just that."

"If you want me to stay safe then why are you leaving?"

He blinked. The microwave beeped but they both ignored it. "Is that what this is about?"

"This is about both of it!"

"I'm leaving so that I can get the guy trying to kill you. I am protecting you-"

"How can you protect me when you're halfway around the world for an indeterminable amount of time?"

"What happened to, 'I don't need protecting'?"

"What happened to, 'you will always be safe in my arms'?" she countered. "I can't be safe in your arms if you're. Not. Here."

"I go on missions all the time! How is this any different?"

"Because the only reason anyone would want to kill me is to get to you!" she shouted. This screaming match was getting out of hand. "If they're out to get you then going straight to them is the worst idea I've ever heard!"

"We… we don't know that."

"That what? That they want you? Why else would they take me? Huh? Why?"

"Because…" he was blanking.

"The only reason I'm valuable is because I know the Avengers. Because the Avengers care about me. I'm not the one who should be hiding, it's you."

"We don't need to hide-"

"Because you're super heroes and you don't need protecting! Do you get it now? Do you understand how I feel?"

He stared at her for a long time as the microwave beeped again. He searched her chocolate brown eyes for… something. He didn't think he found it when she sighed and bent over to take the food from the mini-oven. She placed it on top of the counter and scowled at it. She had apparently burnt it. Stupid microwave. Some things never change.

Pretending not to care, she angrily tore off the plastic wrapping and tossed it in the garbage. She rummaged around in one of the wooden drawers and removed a fork. She stabbed the pasta angrily before shoving it into her mouth.

Steve inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, borrowing some of Bruce's breathing techniques. When he was a little calmer, he opened his eyes just in time to see Tania pick up the plate and leave. He panicked. He couldn't just leave it like that. He would not leave for Europe while they were fighting like this. He had to fix it. But how?

He ran after her and grabbed her arm before she could make it to the elevator. She whipped around. "What?"

He narrowly avoided being slapped in the face by her hair when she turned but ignored it and pressed on. "Why are we fighting?"

She stared at him. "Why?"

"Yeah, why are we fighting."

"Because we disagree."

"On what?"

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Just answer the question."

She eyed him warily. "I think you're being overprotective and don't trust me to take care of myself."

"And?"

She rolled her eyes. "And you walking straight into the enemy's hands is a totally bad idea."

"Don't you see? All we're doing is worrying about each other. There is no reason to fight about it."

She didn't move.

"I don't want to leave for England like this. Please, just… let's just agree to disagree, okay?"

She bit her lip and averted her gaze. She stared down at her noodles for several seconds before she looked up, this time with softer eyes.

"Okay." She twirled some of the noodles onto her fork and held it out for him as a peace offering. "Want some?"

He chuckled and shook his head in disbelief before opening his mouth and engulfing the entire end of the fork. Women. Why did they have to make things so complicated? He mentally shrugged. It was just the way it was. And he wouldn't have Tania any other way.

"You know I'm not going to do whatever I want right?" she asked. He frowned. "And you also know that what I want is to stay alive, right?"

He nodded. "Of course."

"Then you should know that everything I do will be thought out and weighed with pros and cons and will be considered safe by me before doing it." She placed another forkful of food into her mouth as they stood a few feet from the elevator in the lounge, staring at him expectantly.

"Well… then I trust you."

A grin spread across her face. "Thank you." She kissed his cheek, making him blush. Something about that action always elicited the colour pink from him. She smirked at it and relished the fact that for once, it wasn't her turning an embarrassing shade of red (or pink if you want to be technical). "And I trust you to watch each other's backs in England. And in Ireland and in Germany."

"I appreciate it." He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closer to him possessively. "I also appreciate your worry for me."

"Ditto."

He furrowed his eyebrows together. "What?"

She laughed. "It basically means, 'I repeat what you just said but towards you'. So in simpler terms, right back at ya." She winked.  
He smiled in a relaxing manner and nuzzled his nose against hers. "I would hope so."

He brought her fork of spaghetti up between their faces and fed him another bite. After swallowing, he opened his mouth to speak again. "I really should go pack…"

She saddened visibly. "Oh."

He pressed a lovely kiss to her lips that left her breathless and wanting more. "I'll be back for that. But while I'm gone I want you to have it."

The corners of her lips pulled upwards so high she thought she looked like the Joker. Steve apparently didn't think so because he squeezed her hand before pulling away and making his way for the elevator.

"Wait! Don't you want lunch?"

"I'll have lunch in England."

She rushed over to him and shoved the plate into his hands, yanking her own back before the doors closed. "I'll see you before you leave!" she called out.

He saluted her right before the doors closed and they were separated. Tania twisted her ring around her finger nervously as she made her way back into the kitchen for more food. She shook her head and touched her lips on the way there, unable to stop the smile from reaching her eyes. The heat of the kiss lingered and she still felt those embers burning in the back of her mind like hot coals to her problems.

She opened the fridge again before something came to her and she cursed. "Damn. We didn't get to the Lady and the Tramp thing."

**A/N. So what did you think? Let me know via review! I'm kind of curious to see how I did with JARVIS' POV at the beginning.**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N. Heyy :) So everyone seems to like JARVIS' POV. I'll probably put it in again sometime later in the story. Anyway, this chapter is just checking up on everyone before things get started but the main action will be happening with either Steve or Tania. Enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER XI

Pepper sat on the bed in her hotel room working furiously on her laptop while speaking to someone via Bluetooth. She was in her business suit and very visibly stressed. Because of the stupid fact that it was Saturday, Arrow Industries had opted to continue the meeting on a business day; aka Monday. Originally, that was what Pepper had wanted. Now, all she wanted was to go back home and check up on Tania.

It was a little past four o'clock in the afternoon when a knock almost brought her entire door down and she jumped. "Lady Pepper, tis I, Thor, son of Odin. I have been sent by the Avengers to act as your protection." His voice boomed through the door and probably all around the entire hotel floor. She made a mental note to try and have Thor stay away from hotels in the future before getting up to let him in.

When she opened the door, the God of thunder himself stood in full battle armour in her doorway with the top of his head cut off from her view because he was so tall. "Hello Thor," she greeted warmly in her shock.

The demi-god crouched and walked into her room before straightening, just barely avoiding the ceiling when he stood at full height. "Tis very cramped in here," he observed.

She chuckled. "Maybe for you. Thor, what are you doing here?"

"I have already told you. I am here for your protection."

"That's sweet but I already have a protection detail. Happy's here and he's got eyes on everything."

"Then think of me as merely a plan of safety should your first response fail."

Pepper sighed. "Are there any others with you?" she asked hopefully, wondering if maybe Tony had come as well.

Thor shook his head. "I have come alone. Friends Tony, Steve, and Natasha have flown to a place called England while the others remain in the Tower of Avengers."

She tried not to let her disappointment show. "Oh, alright then. Um, we don't have any extra rooms and I don't know where you'll be staying."

"I shall venture to ask another to share their quarters." He started for the door again when Pepper stepped in front of him, preventing his exit.

"Uh, no I don't think that's a very good idea. Why don't we just go to the front desk and ask if they have a room on another floor?"

"If this, 'front desk' is another way of saying the people who manage this building, then yes, let us consult the front desk."

He stomped (probably unintentionally) out the door and down the hallway noisily. Pepper sighed. The other Stark employees were going to kill her before any murderer would. She followed him as quietly as she could down the corridor.

* * *

On a plane to England, Tony struggled with Natasha's hold on his chin. He wiggled and tried to wrench his face away but that woman was persistent and had an iron grip. She held him in place as she applied the makeup. He twitched again, causing the brush she was holding to smear across his nose.

"Hold still, Stark!" she ground through her teeth.

"Why don't you make me, Romanoff?"

"Do you I need to get out my tranquilizer?"

"Actually, I was thinking more of you straddling me with your perfect thighs."

She clapped her makeup brush against the palm of her other hand, creating a huge cloud of beige dust in Tony's face. He coughed and his eyes watered.

Steve watched, amused, from his seat across the aisle. His makeup was already on and he had to admit that the Russian had done a good job. He didn't even recognize himself anymore.

"Now don't move or you'll get a pencil to the eye," she warned Tony before grabbing the eyeliner.

The billionaire's eyes widened. "Nuh uh! Keep that thing away from me!"

"I'm not going to stab with you with it unless you keep struggling."

"What happened to Katniss' contacts? I thought we had professional makeup artists on stand-by?"

"Turns out this is faster. Now look up."

"Why would I do that when you're in front of me?"

She grabbed his chin and forced his head upward. "Stare at that ceiling until I tell you not to. Find something interesting on it and don't look away. Don't blink either."

"Kinda hart not to when there's powder in my EYE."

"Shut up and be a good victim."

"Steve! Help a guy out!"

"Sorry Tony, you're on your own."

"Aw come on!"

Natasha lowered his head and the genius obediently kept his eyes trained on the boring white ceiling of his private jet. "Don't move," she cautioned before popping off the cap to the eyeliner.

As she outlined his bottom lashes with the darkest black she could find in the kit provided by Clint's contacts, Natasha shifted positions so that she was kneeling to his right and mere inches away from his face.

Tony, for once, didn't dare talk for fear of her utensil mistakenly stabbing him in the eye. The other two passengers relished the silence.  
Steve stared out the window, thinking back to his good-bye to Tania a few hours previous.

_They hugged each other tightly on the helipad among the others. Tania whispered in his ear. "You better be back for my birthday, you hear?"_

_He chuckled. "Wouldn't miss it."_

_"Got anything planned?"_

_"Yes I do."_

_"Good. Now go kick some bad guy ass and come back as unscathed as humanly possible."_

_"I'll do my best."_

_She blew him a kiss. "I love you."_

_He grinned back at her. "I love you more."_

_She rolled her eyes as he stepped onto the jet. "That's what you think!" she called to him just before the doors closed._

It was true. He did have something planned for her birthday. It was their anniversary he had to worry about. He was going to take her out at night while she would take him out during the day. But where could he take her? He frowned. He had no idea. They'd already gone dancing, seen movies, played miniature golf, been to an amusement park, visited a museum, had dinner, went for walks in the park, participated in laser tag, gone shopping, been to a wedding, and probably so much more together. What else was there that they hadn't already done?

"Hey Tony?" he turned his attention to the eccentric philanthropist who had now been released from Natasha's grip on his face. "I know I'm probably going to regret this later, but do you know anywhere special I can take Tania for our anniversary? It has to be during the evening, preferably somewhere neither of us have been together before."

A smirk played across the former playboy's face as he sat up straight. "You've come to right guy, Cap'n Crunch." That's a new one. "I know this great bar that- oof!" Natasha elbowed him again. "Okay, fine! No bars or strip clubs. What about casinos? No? Oh yeah, Tania and the girls went to Vegas for Betty's bachelorette party. Okay, strike out casinos. How about… skiing?"

"Skiing?" Steve repeated.

"Yeah. It's winter. Why not? I'll send you both to Whistler in Vancouver and you can ski in the same place as the two thousand and ten Olympics!"

"I don't know Tony…"

"What? It's perfect! I own a chalet there you guys can borrow. Think about it! Cuddling up by the fire with hot chocolate after a day full of skiing or snowboarding, maybe even tobogganing… how 'bout it?"

Steve seemed to contemplate it for a few seconds. He turned to Natasha. "What do you think?"

"Don't look at me; I don't know anything about this stuff."

"But you're a dame. Would you like it if Clint took you skiing in… Vancouver, was it?"

"That's right. And… I don't know. I guess? We've never really… been on a date…"

"What?!" Tony exclaimed. This was apparently news to him as he stood up from his chair. "Okay! I have a new project. Operation Clintasha is now in the process of getting planned out."

Natasha groaned. "Tony, Clint and I don't need to date in order to-"

"Be in love, I know. I've been in love with Pepper for years and didn't even know it. But seriously? Not one date? You guys go all around the world for missions! How do you not have time to stop by at a restaurant and grab a bite to eat? Heck, even McDonald's counts!"

She shrugged. "It never really concerned us all that much. But we were talking about Steve and Tania's anniversary date, not mine."

"Fine. But I'm not forgetting this. I have an eidetic memory."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "To answer you, Steve, yes, I would like it if Clint took me to Whistler."

"It's a five our flight though. I suggest you stay overnight. Maybe for a few days, heck! Even a week!"

"I don't know Tony…"

"Come on Cap! It's perfect!"

Steve was silent for a rather long time before he turned back to them and smiled. "One condition. Not hot chocolate. Coffee."

* * *

Tania sat in the party deck, scrolling through news articles on her Stark tablet. She was all over the news. Her attack was everywhere she looked. Now that everyone knew who she was and what she meant to the Avengers, her private life had suddenly become almost nonexistent. The paparazzi knew her every move outside the Tower. It was annoying.

What bothered her the most though was probably the fact that everyone referred to her as Sonata and put her real name in brackets as if she had some alter ego. She was the same person! Hel-_lo_. She knew Tony must have leaked the name to the press, considering he came up with it first. Luckily, she and Clint had already pranked him by making him think someone had stolen his arc reactor in his sleep. That was before he had gotten it removed. His reaction had been priceless.

But even though the name itself was growing on her, she was still adamant that she wasn't a super hero. Betty and Bruce's marriage was also all over the news. Why wasn't Betty considered a super hero? Okay, sure, Tania had accompanied the Avengers on a few missions here and there and calmed down the Hulk but she was positive that Betty could calm him down just as efficiently.

Singing was not a super power. She wasn't even that good. She was decent enough to break someone's eardrums and her range wasn't even that large. There were a lot of decent singers out there. Yeah, she sang in Latin, but she had no idea what she was saying or if she was even pronouncing everything correctly.

She had no costume or catch phrase or alter ago. She wasn't anyone's sidekick and she wasn't an agent. She was just a business woman who was dating Captain America. Why couldn't the tabloids just accept that? JEEZ.

She sighed and closed the window on the tablet before setting it down on the counter. Maybe she could hold a press conference and tell everyone that she wasn't a superhero. Pepper could come along as well as tell everyone she wasn't one either.

She opened up a new page in the NOTE app on her tablet before she started typing. With nothing much to do and quite possibly a murderer wanting to kill her, Tania distracted herself with work. Like Pepper, when she had something important on her plate, she often became engrossed in her work and didn't stop until she got it done. Tony had once said it was something he shared with her as well.

So for the next hour and forty-five minutes, she sat there on the uncomfortable bar stool and tapped away at her device, working, planning, organizing, video chatting Pepper on how everything was going, more working, planning, and organizing.

As the sky darkened outside, Graham waltzed in dressed in a pair of dark-wash jeans, a white collared T-shirt and a black leather jacket, twirling his keys around his finger. He tossed them onto the counter beside his sister and she jumped, spinning around to see who it was before relaxing.

"Hey," she greeted before going back to work.

Graham frowned and leaned on the counter next to her. "Hay is for horses."

She rolled her eyes without ceasing her typing. "You know what I meant. What's up?"

"We're going out."

She stopped and looked up at him. "Out?"

He nodded. "Yup. My old roommate always said he wanted to meet you and I thought, why not right now? Neither of us are doing anything."

"Why not right now? How about there's some guy out there bent on my death?"

"Don't worry, we've got comms. Loosen up, sis. We're not even going that far. We're going to a restaurant just down the street to have dinner."

"I don't know…"

"Aw come on! We don't ever do anything anymore! I'm always swamped with schoolwork and you're always busy with regular work or hanging with the Avengers. There's never just you and me anymore, brother and sister by actual blood. That's why we need to go do something. Just you and me."

"I thought your friend was coming with?"

"Just for a bit. He can't stay long."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, he has a date later tonight but he said he can squeeze us in."

"I feel so special," she deadpanned.

"Come on, sis, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"Graham…." She whined.

"If it makes you feel any better, we can have Clint follow us in the shadows as long as he doesn't interrupt. I'll take what I can get."

She sighed. "Fine. You're obviously not going to let up so I'll go. Just let me grab my jacket and I'll come with you."

Graham whooped and did a little victory dance which she laughed at. "You're almost as bad as Steve at dancing."

He stuck his tongue out at her. "Nuh uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nuh uh!"

"How old are you again?"

He smirked cheekily. "Twenty-three."

She blinked. "Holy crap! You're graduating this year!"

He nodded with pride. "Yup! I'm totally on my way to being an architect."

"Wow…" she wrinkled her nose. "You're old."

He laughed. "Nope. I'm still a kid at heart."

"You can say that again."

"I'm still a kid at heart."

"Haha."

"Come on, let's go." He threw an arm around her and steered her toward the elevator when they were interrupted by JARVIS.

"I'm sorry, Mr. and Miss Banks, but I have explicit orders from Agent Barton and Dr. Banner not to let anyone leave this Tower without their permission."

Tania sighed. "Well then could you please ask them for permission, then?"

"Yes, Miss Banks."

The siblings continued on into the elevator. "They'd better say yes or I'm going to have a hell of a time convincing them to let us go," Graham muttered under his breath.

"Agent Barton has given his permission, however Doctor Banner is against it."

"Works for me! Let's go!" The elevator doors closed.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N. Hey :) two updates in one day! Sweet! I have no life. Not sweet for me but sweet for you :P Hope you guys enoy :D**

CHAPTER XII

Edward Star, Grant Rickman, and Allie Nova of the FBI walked up to the door of August Zane's house. Edward pulled at his collar uncomfortably as sweat poured down his face, threatening to ruin his makeup. "Again, I ask, how do women and stage monkeys do this?"

"Quit complaining Stark, before I really do stab you in the eye with a pencil," Allie threatened as she walked ahead of them.

"I'm not afraid of you Romanoff," Edward bit back.

"I didn't get that impression," mumbled Grant.

"Shut up Spandex!"

"Take your own advice, why don't you?"

"BOYS!" Edward and Grant whipped their heads around to face Allie who had turned and had both hands on her hips, tapping her foot in annoyance. "Get off each other's backs and get into character. We're about to interrogate a potential suspect of someone who might have wanted to kill Tania. Don't. Blow it."

She spun around and knocked forcefully on the door. A few seconds later, it swung open to reveal a man who looked exactly like Tania's sketch. Grant's grip on his badge tightened considerably, but other than that, he hid his anger well.

Allie flashed her badge. "Allie Nova of the FBI. These are agents Edward Star and Grant Rickman. We have reason to believe you might be guilty of attempted murder."

August's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "W-what?" His British accent was discernible even through that one stuttered word.

"Mind if we come in?" she asked before stepping into his home and pocketing her badge. The two agents followed her wordlessly. All three of them wore cool sunglasses and designer, expensive suits. Allie removed her glasses and folded them, hanging them on her breast pocket.

August closed the door wordlessly and walked into his living room as if in a daze. He sat down on the couch, deathly pale. Allie sat across from him and crossed her legs. Edward and Grant remained standing behind her with their arms clasped in front of them, looking intimidating.

Allie tucked her blonde hair (wig) behind her ear and stared at him sternly through brown contacts. "Let's cut to the chase. Where were you on the night of January fourth?"

"The fourth? That was last night."

"Good observation, Sherlock," Edward commented sarcastically. Grant stepped on his foot and the first man bit back a cry before glaring at the other agent.

August paled further, if that was even possible. "I-I… um…"

"Yes?" Allie prodded, voice recorder at the ready.

He gulped, smoothing down his greasy and sweat stained white T-shirt nervously. "L-last night… I was with… um… with…"

"Spit it out!" Edward ordered. Grant elbowed him this time and the eccentric agent sucked in a breath but otherwise didn't react.

"I… was out."

"Out where?" Allie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, a… a hotel."

This piqued everyone's interests. Tania had been attacked in a hotel. Maybe they were on to something.

"Which one?" Allie inquired.

August swallowed the lump in his throat. "Can I ask a question first?"

Before Edward could even open his mouth, Grant punched his arm. The older agent glared at him. "What was that for?!" he whisper hissed so that the others couldn't hear.

"Keep your mouth shut, Stark or you'll botch the whole mission."

"Maybe I'll stop talking when you stop abusing me!"

"I'll stop hitting you when you shut up!"

"So," Allie started loudly to cover up her coworkers incessant bickering, "What question did you have?"

The suspect cleared his throat. "Um, well… who do you think I… killed?"

Allie blinked. "I said attempted murder. You didn't kill anyone. That we know of." She raised another delicate eyebrow.

"Oh no! I didn't- you misunderstand me. I didn't kill no one! I swear!" He waved his hands back and forth frantically. "I didn't try to kill anyone either! I was just having a little fun."

"What kind of fun?" Grant asked, stepping forward menacingly. If this man thought that putting a knife to his girlfriend's throat was fun… A light blow to his shin had him whirling his head towards Edward, who was smirking at him. Grant clenched his fists.

"Just… you know… a one night thing." August rubbed the back of his neck nervously and avoided looking any of them in the eye. "Am I gonna go to prison?"

"That depends on whether or not you're guilty of what we think you did," Allie replied smoothly.

"I didn't try to kill anyone, honest!"

"You still haven't told us what hotel you were at."

He grumbled to himself for a bit, seemingly fighting with himself about whether or not he should tell them. Eventually, he looked up. "I was at Swell Lake across town." He pointed at his wall as if they all had x-ray vision and could see through it to the location far away. "But don't tell my wife! Please! She'll kill me!"

"Tell her what? You said you didn't try to take anyone's life."

He blanched again. "That… that I was at a hotel… with a girl…" he mumbled quietly.

Allie frowned. "Can you tell me the girl's name?"

His eyes widened. "No, I- I don't want her to get in trouble! She doesn't know I'm married. She didn't do anything wrong. We just… just slept together. One night stand. That's all."

Edward and Grant scowled in almost perfect sync. It was unintentional but had the beneficial effect of making August shrink into the couch. Allie spoke up again. "Do you have any proof that you were at that hotel last night?"

He scrunched up his face in thought. "There were witnesses. A-and security cameras."

Allie looked over at her partners and they both nodded at her. She nodded back before returning her gaze to a shaking August. "That will be all for now, Mr. Zane. If we find any hint that you were guilty we will be back. And next time, we will not be so friendly." She replaced her sunglasses on her face before getting up. August scrambled to his feet and rushed to open the door for her.

"I-I understand." He nodded vigorously. "H-have a nice evening." With that, Allie, Edward, and Grant walked out onto the street under the stars in London, England.

Allie sighed as they made their way to the car with tinted windows. When they were fully inside, she peeled off her wig and fake nose, revealing the face of Natasha Romanoff. "He seems clean to me. But we better hack into the hotel's surveillance feed to double check." She began popping out her contacts using the rear-view mirror.

Edward tore off his own fake jaw that covered his beard and ran his fingers through his slicked back hair, shaking it out as much as he could, revealing himself to be Tony Stark. "No problem. I'll have JARVIS hack it. Just drive us somewhere to sleep," he dismissed from the backseat as he fetched his laptop from the bag next to him.

In the passenger seat, Grant pulled off his wig and fake mustache (man it felt weird to wear it…) to reveal the exasperated face of Steve Rogers. As Natasha changed gears and pulled off the side of the road in the sleek black vehicle, the Captain leaned his forehead against the cold glass of the window.

"Where to next?"

"Ireland is closer," Natasha pointed out.

He nodded in agreement. "Ireland it is then. Shall we sleep on the plane?"

"No way," Tony stated from behind them. "We're finding a place to stay for the night."

"There's a SHIELD safe house not too far from here where we can crash, assuming it's not currently occupied. Clint and I have used it a couple times on missions here. It's quite roomy."

"Perfect. Make it so, Allie."

Natasha rolled her eyes but turned on the turning signal and changed lanes into the one that would eventually take them onto the highway.  
The car was filled with silence except for Tony's tapping of the keys and Steve was just impatient to nab the man trying to kill his girlfriend. According to the others, there was no rush, but the longer Tania was alone and that murderer was out there, Steve didn't think he'd be able to sleep very well. He wanted to bring that man to justice so that he and Tania could live and sleep peacefully and without fear.

"Something wrong, Cap?" Natasha asked, sneaking a sideways glance at him while driving. Tony looked up from his typing briefly.  
Steve shook his head. "Not really. I'm just… anxious, I guess."

"Well that was obvious from how you were acting in there," Tony said before returning to his computer.

Steve reached over to Natasha's seat and used it turn himself around to face the billionaire with narrowed eyes. "You're one to talk. You wouldn't shut up."

"Last I checked, encouraging him to spill wasn't against the law."

"You should have stayed quiet."

"So should you!"

"What I said was a question. You were being unnecessarily sarcastic and deliberately-"

"You're outburst was uncalled for too!"

"Stark, don't make me-"

"Don't make you what? Hit me again? That is physical abuse-!"

"EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Natasha screamed, slamming her foot on the brakes and pulling over unexpectedly. When they were parked and the car stopped squealing, she turned around and glared at them to the best of her ability. "BOTH of you should have kept your mouths shut but you didn't so forget about it! There's nothing you can do now so stop bickering like children or I swear to God you'll both wake up missing limbs. Do I make myself clear?"

Tony and Steve grumbled. Steve's was something along the lines of, "I don't see how this verbal abuse is any better than what I was doing." Natasha hardened her glare and they both recoiled.

"Don't make me repeat myself," she threatened, low and menacing.

"Yes, Natasha," the two of them chorused out of synchronisation like a classroom full of school children.

"Good." The assassin turned back around and readjusted her seatbelt before switching gears and pulling back onto the road. She turned on the radio to some random station that was playing country music and left it there, not caring if anyone liked it or not.

A few minutes later, Tony's laptop beeped. "Aha! What's the sitch, Jarvis?"

The AI's robotic and British voice filled the air as Steve turned down the radio. "The lobby cameras of Swell Lake suggest that August Zane was present at the time of Miss Banks' attack."

"Just like we thought. Okay, that's all. See you in a few, J."

"See you, Sir."

Tony closed the device and stuffed it back in his bag. "How much longer, Nat?"

Natasha gripped the steering wheel harder and gritted her teeth. "Ten minutes at most."

He nodded. "Right. Well. I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired and I want to sleep. Put the pedal to the metal Widow and let's get some Zs."

Steve wrinkled his eyebrows together. "Zs?"

"He's referencing sleep. It's a little hard to explain why. I'll google it for you when we get back." The red head answered.

Steve nodded in thanks. The rest of the right was spent in silence with country music playing in the background and Tony's snoring becoming louder and louder as he slumped in the backseat.

"Natasha?" Steve turned his head to look at her even though he knew she couldn't make eye contact with him for very long, what with driving and everything.

"Yeah, Steve?"

"Do you mind that Tony called you Nat?"

There was a short pause before she responded. "Yes and no. I don't mind it so much if he's not being annoying, which is ninety nine percent of the time."

"Would you… mind if I called you Nat?"

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye before darting back to the road. "No. Close friends can call me Nat, but only Clint is allowed to call me Tasha."

Steve nodded in comprehension. "So you consider Tony a close friend?"

She clenched her teeth. "Close enough. We've been living together for eight months. We've saved the world together. We've fought evil together on more than one occasion. He annoys the hell out of me but he isn't a bad person. He's not the egotistical jerk I originally thought him to me. He's still egotistical and he's still a jerk half the time but… I'm beginning to see a little of why Pepper stuck around for so long."  
Steve took all this in. "I see."

"I know you don't think he's a bad person either."

Steve sighed. "No. There's more to him than meets the eye. I just… so many of the things he does drives me insane, you know?"

She snorted rather unladylike. "Trust me, I know."

"It's like he can be this insensitive asshole one second and then the next he's a serious and considerate person who really cares about you."

"I know. But it's the second half that keeps us around."

"And the first half that endears us to him."

"I don't know about that…"

Steve chuckled. Afterward, he pursed his lips, deep in thought. "Do you think… I was too hard on Tony?"

She seemed to contemplate this seriously. "Maybe a little. There was no need for physical violence although I have to admit that I would have done the same thing. I don't think it's the same coming from a woman, though. Even from me."

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I'll apologize to him when he wakes up."

"No need, Captain." Steve and Natasha jumped (though she'd never admit it and it was very subtle) at the sound of Tony's voice. Only Steve turned to look though.

The mechanic sat up groggily and rubbed at his eyes as Natasha pulled into a driveway. "I heard everything," he confessed before yawning. "I was never asleep, just drifting."

The agent parked the car and undid her seatbelt. "Don't let any of what was said go to your head Stark or you won't have one for your ego to inflate." With that, she pushed open the door and exited the car, slamming it closed after her.

Steve turned to face him. "Tony, I-"

"Save it Cap. You didn't actually hurt me and I know you didn't mean to cause trouble or blurt the question out. It was just instinct. If it had been Pepper I don't think I would have controlled myself nearly as well as you did."

Steve's features softened. "Thanks Tony. You're sure I didn't hurt you?"

"Positive. I'm perfectly fine."

"You know, we sure do bicker a lot. Like children."

The two of them ignored the sounds of Natasha rummaging through the trunk for her suitcase and continued to sit in the car as Tony answered. "Like brothers."

Steve blinked in surprise and opened his mouth to protest – only to close it again. A smile stretched his lips and he nodded. "Like brothers," he agreed.

"Get your asses out here and help me with your luggage or so help me I will literally drag you out here!"

Steve and Tony scrambled out of the car.

**A/N. Just so no one's confused. Stotasha *snickers* (Steve/Tony/Natasha) are undercover as Grant Rickman (Steven ****_Grant_**** Rogers), Edward Star (Anthony ****_Edward_**** Stark), and Allie Nova (Natalia ****_Alianovna _****Romanova). See ya next chapter! ;D**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N. Hi guys! Wow, longest chapter EVER. It's also my FAVOURITE CHAPTER SO FAR XD Lots of action. Probably my best action scene yet. I'm getting all of your hopes up now, aren't I? Hope you're not disappointed but I love this chapter! Anyway, Enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER XIII

Tania sighed and rubbed at her eyes tiredly. Last night had been fun, spending time with Graham, but now she was dead tired and just a tad hung over. She remembered very clearly walking along the street to the restaurant with their arms around each other beneath the starry night sky. There had been a cool breeze and she was laughing at his jokes and she almost totally forgot about being targeted for assassination. Almost.

It was always lingering in the back of her mind and had her acting seriously paranoid. She always double checked her surroundings in every direction and listened hard for something that could be suspicious. She noticed little details about people and places she normally wouldn't give a second glance to.

Graham's friend, Timothy, (or Timmy or Tim) was actually very funny but one of the most responsible people Tania had ever met. They ate breadsticks for a few minutes and talked before he had to leave to go on his date.

She didn't miss the longing look in Graham's face when he mentioned his love life. Maybe Pepper was right. Maybe they should set him up. She filed the thought away for later and the two of them talked and laughed the night away. It had been relaxed and comfortable and they came home over two hours later ready to go to bed.

And now here she was, the next day, working herself to death at eleven o'clock in the morning. She resumed her typing on the laptop in her office on their floor. Before she moved in with her boyfriend, Steve had had four rooms on his floor. He'd only ever used two of them: his bed room and his art studio. Now that Tania lived with him and had to give up her library, office, and entertainment room, Steve had given his consent for her to decorate the rooms and use them however she wanted.

She definitely needed on office. With his help, she painted the walls a dark orange and brought in a big wooden desk with a black leather office chair. Her laptop sat upon the desk and even though the three dimensional holographic projector had not been installed on Steve's floor, Tania didn't need it for work. She had her tablet and her phone and there was an entire wall of shelves on the opposite side to place any picture frames or stuffed animals like the elephant Steve had won her at the amusement park on Thor's birthday. The shelves around those memorabilia held her dozens upon dozens of books.

The other room was used for storage basically. It was rather cluttered in there… She made a mental note to sort through that at a later date before finishing off her email to the head of Arrow's MA department. They'd been in constant contact and the more emails she received for him, the more she wanted to rip his head off. The guy was a total narcissistic ass and she loathed the day when she would have to work with him face to face.

She had been sitting at her desk for hours. Ever since she first woke up to a cold bed, she had locked herself in her office and caught up on her work. Not before having JARVIS get someone to fetch her coffee because she was too lazy to go downstairs.

It ended up being Clint that brought her coffee and when he did, he'd asked why she was holed up in there and that she looked like she just rolled out of bed. She had told him to 'bite me' before promptly shoving him out the door as he laughed.

A knock at her door brought her thoughts back to Earth as she spun around in her chair. The door automatically opened to reveal Clint, again. He smiled lopsidedly at her.

"You work too much," he stated as a greeting before walking inside. He eyed the room with a non-judging gaze. "Nice place."

"Thanks and I do not work too much."

"You're on holiday."

"Yeah, well, I'm bored."

"So you're working?! What kind of philosophy is that?"

She rolled her eyes and turned back to her desk. "A good one. If I don't do this work now I'm going to be swamped when I eventually do get back."

She felt her chair being rolled backwards and she squeaked, reaching for her laptop a little too late. Clint leaned on the back of her chair with one arm. "Come on. You're getting cleaned up and we're going out."

She threw her hands in the air. "What is with people telling me that I'm going out and not actually asking me?"

He laughed. "Maybe it's cause you're almost as much of a workaholic as Pepper."

She gaped at him. "Am not!"

He gave her a look that said, 'Really? Denial?'.

She sighed. "Fine. Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise. But wear this." He tossed her a Kevlar vest right into her lap and she grunted under its weight.

Her eyes widened. "Wear the hell are we going?"

He shrugged before standing upright. "Nowhere special. But you can never be too careful with that guy on the loose."

It appeared as though he was almost as paranoid as she was. She shrugged. "Okay…" she agreed hesitantly.

"Great!" He rubbed his hands together. "I'll meet you in the lobby in twenty. Don't be late!" He strolled out of the room with a wink and a wave before the door closed behind him.

* * *

Twenty-five minutes later found Tania and Clint walking down the cold, snow-covered streets of New York City, away from the Tower. The brunette shivered and wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck. "Where are we going again?"

Clint laughed. "I told you, it's a surprise."

She rolled her eyes. "If you say so."

They walked along in silence, hiding beneath hats to disguise their faces from the every so annoying press. After several minutes of walking and a little boat ride, they reached the bottom of the Statue Of Liberty.

"Seriously, Clint? Seriously?"

He shrugged. "What?"

"I've been here like a million times."

A smirk played on his lips. "I guarantee you've never been in the exact spot I'm taking you."

She raised an eyebrow before he grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the entrance. Her eyes widened and she dug her heels into the ground, effectively slowing them down enough to pull him to a stop. He turned, confused.

"What?"

"I…" she stared up at the colossal statue looming above her and gulped. "I'm still afraid of heights," she whispered. Sure, she looked out over the balcony at Avengers Tower all the time and climbed trees without hesitation but this monument was HUGE. She was getting dizzy just looking at it.

His features softened and he tugged on her hand. "It's okay. I won't let you fall. Cross my heart and hope to die." When he actually did the motions along with it, Tania couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, but if I have a panic attack, I'm unleashing Steve and Natasha on you."

He frowned but agreed. "Fair enough. But if you don't want to climb all those stairs, I have a much faster way up." He wiggled his eyebrows mischievously and she cracked up.

"Oh really? Does it involve your bow that's not here?"

"Oh it's here." He patted his back and winked at her. She stared at him in surprise. The man was dressed in all black with a thick wool jacket that hid his bullet-proof vest and apparently his bow. "And yes, it does."

She blanched. "Um, no I think I'll stick with the stairs."

He laughed. "Suit yourself." He shrugged and led her inside. She followed him with a slight smile on her face. Her family was the best.

After several minutes (probably closer to an hour) of walking up stairs, they made it to the crown and Tania paused for a breather. She was quite out of breath and leaned against the wall with a hand pressed to her chest. Her face was flushed and sweat was gathering in her scalp and at the base of her neck.

Clint's breathing was slightly erratic but other than that you could hardly tell he was tired. He turned to her, blowing out puffs of hot air creating white clouds in front of his mouth like she was. "Okay, here's where we do things my way." He held up his index finger in a motion to wait for a minute as he made his way to the window and leaned forward. No one other tourists were doing the same at this point in time. Perfect.

He reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a flare-grenade. With a few expert glances around him to make sure no one was watching, he bit off the latch and threw the ball into the air. He ducked back inside as it exploded into a giant firework.

All the people crowded around the windows when they heard the explosion, leaving Tania and Clint unobserved. He smirked at her before pressing a finger to his lips to tell her to remain silent. She regarded him quizzically but obeyed.

He took her hand and pulled her to the windows of Lady Liberty's crown on the other side of all the tourists while they were distracted. He stretched up and reached into the back of his coat, digging his arm behind the collar of his jacket before he smiled triumphantly and produced a folded up version of his bow. He shook it once and it popped to its real size.

Tania had never had the chance to see Clint's weapon of choice up close and she took the second to admire it. It was all black and made of some sort of retractable metal with purple accents just barely visible unless you looked extremely hard. There were a variety of buttons where his left hand fingers would be when aiming and the string was taut. It was sleek and that was probably what they both liked about it.

She wondered where his quiver was and how much use his bow would have without arrows but she needn't have worried. The archer pulled an arrow from his boot and hooked it into the string, pulling it back with speed and strength. He leaned out the window almost completely, bending over backward to face the top of Lady Liberty so far that Tania immediately grabbed a hold of his legs to stop him from tipping over.

She felt more than heard his chuckle vibrate throughout his body as he released the arrow with a quiet _thwick_. She didn't even hear it hit anything before he was back inside. He wrapped an arm around her waist tightly before pressing a button on his bow.

They were yanked from inside the crown and out the window and Tania had the urge to scream but something held her back. Maybe it was the motion for silence Clint had signaled earlier or maybe it was just stuck in her throat on the way up but for whatever reason she remained silent. Wind whipped at her hair and tore the hat from her head, letting it flutter to the ground. She clutched her friend tightly and breathed in and out shakily.

Her stomach felt like it had fallen right out of her and was tumbling after her hat. The paralyzing fear that came with falling was present, even if she was being pulled up faster than she would have thought an arrow could pull.

It was over within a few seconds but for Tania it felt like a year and she collapsed in his arms when they stood on top of the crown rather than in it. He chuckled and caught her easily, keeping her on her feet despite the buckling and quaking of her knees.

"I… hate… you." She hissed, looking around at the landscape. They were so high… and there was nothing to stop them from falling. There wasn't a railing or a wall or a window, just Clint and his grappling arrows.

He chuckled as another breeze swept over them, pulling his hood down and brushing their hairs astray. "You'll get over it."

Once he was confident enough she could stand on her own, he let go. She grabbed his arm with more force than he expected, but he just laughed it off. "Shut up," she mumbled. "I get that you're the Amazing Hawkeye and stuff and birds like heights but I. Don't. Get me down."

"No."

"Barton!" she barked.

"Banks," he said, leveling her glare.

After several seconds of their little staring contest, she sighed and blinked. "I still hate you."

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

She punched him in the chest, knowing he had his Kevlar vest on. He just laughed again and walked them toward the middle of the sun on top of the statue's head. He pried her fingers off of him one by one and placed his bow back in his coat. He yanked the arrow out from the stone and returned it to his boot. He then began to walk on top of one of the spike's protruding from the crown.

"Clint! Don't!" Tania cried, stepping forward and hesitating out of fear. He kept walking towards the pointy end with his hands stuffed in his pockets as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Clint!"

When he reached the very end he spun around to face her with a wide grin on his face. "How can you be scared of this? I live for this." He spread his arms wide. "The thrill of falling and flying and being high just… it's exhilarating."

"Because there's the ever present death looming at your feet," she spat in reply, darting her gaze between Clint and the ground below.  
He laughed as another breeze hit him straight in the chest. His eyes widened and he began pin-wheeling his arms in backward circles.

"Woah!"

"CLINT!" Tania stepped forward onto the spike with only a second's hesitation. Another two steps later and she was within arm's reach. She extended her arm and he stopped circling his arms. He smirked at her.

It had all been fake.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" she screamed at him.

He laughed as if this was the funniest thing he'd ever seen while she fumed. Her face was an obnoxious state of red and her heart was beating out of her chest, thumping against her ribcage.

"You… should have… seen your face," he managed between chortles.

She huffed and turned to walk back, carefully making her way onto the roof once again. "You are the most inconsiderate jerk I have ever met in my entire life!" she threw at him.

"Aw, come on, you don't mean that." He cartwheeled forward onto the spike in a perfect line before back flipping off and onto the roof, landing perfectly. "And he sticks the landing!"

She rolled her eyes. "I wonder if you'll stick the landing when I shove you over the edge," she threatened, arms crossed.

"I can stick any landing. I was in the circus."

"I know. Let me guess. You walked the tightrope while shooting a bow and arrow blindfolded on a unicycle?"

"Can't say I ever did that but I bet you fifty bucks I can."

She rolled her eyes again and turned away from him. "You'd win."

"You're faith in me is astounding."

"Yeah well you just shattered it like glass."

"No I didn't. I promise you wouldn't fall. You haven't. I haven't let you down."

"Yet."

"Stop being so grumpy and let loose! I got you away from work and this is the thanks I get?"

"You dragged me away, for one thing and for another, we both could have DIED!" she yelled.

He shrugged. "But we didn't. Because I'm awesome like that."

"Shut up and get me down from here."

"Nah, let's just stay here for a while." He lay down on the cold stone of the statue with his hands behind his head and looked up at the cloudy sky. "What do you say we cloud watch, hm? I used to do it all the time as a kid with my brother."

"You had a brother?" she asked, opting to remain standing for the time being.

His joking smile diminished a little. "Yeah. I did."

"What happened to him?"

He was silent for a long time. It was a little disturbing, considering his demeanor for the past hour or so had been similar to that of an overexcited puppy. His eyes roamed the skies above while she waited. She eventually became impatient and figured sitting down would give the wind less of a chance to knock her over the edge and she plopped down cross-legged beside his head.

"He joined the dark side," he admitted solemnly.

Tania contemplated this while looking around her, still feeling as though her stomach had gone SPLAT on the ground minutes ago. It was a beautiful view though. "How so?"

"It's kind of a long story."

"Where am I gonna go?"

He chuckled. "I guess you're right." He began recounting the tale of his childhood to her. Growing up with his brother Barney and his abusive father and uncaring mother before they both died. He didn't tell her how. He did say that they were given to an orphanage and that that's where Barney first began to show signs of turning rotten. He refused to give her the details, said he wasn't ready, but rather gave her an outline of his life. He told her that the two of them ran away to join the circus and that he learned how to shoot there. He said that Barney got jealous of his talent and they began to grow apart. One day, Clint caught him conning money with another circus worker and tried to stop them. He paused there, as if unable to recount the next part.

"I haven't seen him since that day," he finished lamely.

Tania wasn't stupid. She knew there was something, probably a lot of somethings that he wasn't telling her. But she didn't push it. If he wasn't ready to tell her then she wouldn't ask.

In return for his long tale, the brunette told him stories of her past as well. She told him about living with her brother and her deaf Aunt Gemma and all the mischief she and Graham used to get into. Halfway through one of her stories, Clint turned his head to look at her.

"You sign?" he asked incredulously.

"Well duh. You don't live with a deaf person for almost a decade and not learn sign language."

His next words were said through his hands as he began signing. _Well I'll be a monkey's uncle._

She laughed and began signing back. _That wouldn't surprise me._

He snorted._ We should totally use this as our secret language. It would bug the hell out of Tony and the others._

She nodded in agreement. _Does N-A-T know?_ She asked, spelling out the red heads name.

_The sign for N-A-T-A-S-H-A is Natasha._ He showed her the made up sign of two guns crossed in front of each other with a serious face. She chuckled. Of course. He continued "speaking" though._ But no, she does not know ASL._

_Does anyone else?_

_Not sure._

_Well I like the idea of using this to bug T-O-N-Y. It's like when you and Natasha speak Russian to each other so we don't understand._

_Exactly! Hey, you know what we should do?_

_What?_

_We should make signs for everyone._

_Good idea. How about this for T-O-N-Y?_ Tania drew a circle on her chest as if tracing an arc reactor_. I know he doesn't have one anymore but I think it could still work._

_I like it. My sign is Clint_. He pretended to pull the string of his bow.

Tania nodded. _Cool. What about me?_

Clint pretended to have super long girl hair and flipped it over his shoulder exaggeratedly. Tania laughed and shoved his shoulder. _What?_ He asked with an innocent look on his face.

_I don't think so._

_Fine. What about this?_ He mimed singing opera that had her chortling in laughter and holding her stomach. She shook her head.

_No._

_What about… this? He snapped his fingers._

She smiled. _I like that._

They spent the next several minutes coming up with signs for the rest of the Avengers. It was a rather amusing afternoon, to say the least.

Eventually, Tania fell onto her back so that her head was by Clint's and that they were facing opposite directions like on those cheesy book covers. Of course, being in this position meant that they couldn't see each other's hands very well so they reverted back to talking.

"This is my favourite place," he told her a few minutes later. "I came here a lot after the attack with Loki."

"Did you? That's… cool, I guess."

He snorted. "If you count wallowing as cool, then yes, it was very cool."

"Clint… can you tell me about Loki?"

He was silent for a very long time. "Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out and send something else in? Do you know what it's like to be unmade?" he asked, repeating his words to Natasha that day on the helicarrier. Not that Tania knew that.

"No. I don't."

"Then you wouldn't understand."

"I can try."

He turned his head to look at her and she turned hers too. They simply stared for a really long time before returned his gaze to the clouds as they moved. He sighed. "I'm sorry. Maybe another time."

She nodded. "I understand."

"So your birthday's coming up." It was obviously a change in topic but she went with it.

"Yup."

"What do you want?"

"I want to be surprised."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it means that you're friends care about you enough to listen when you talk and utilize that information to get you something meaningful."

"That's deep."

She laughed, her belly shaking as she did so, back pressed against the cold stone of the statue. "Not really. I just think it really says something about a person's relationship with someone when they give you a present they know you'll like."

"So there's nothing specific you want?"

"Not… well okay, there is this one thing that comes to mind. But telling you would defeat the purpose if what I just said."

"Is it a pair of suede boots?"

Tania pushed herself onto her elbows and gaped at him. "How did you know?"

"I saw you ogling them in one of the store windows on the way here. I've got eyes like a hawk."

She rolled her eyes. "Well there goes the surprise."

"You don't know what colour they'll be."

"True." As she started a mini ramble on how she hated shoe shopping and therefore never actually went in to buy it herself, Clint looked over at her and spotted something that made fear pool in his stomach. A little red dot was hovering around her body, trying to find the perfect mark.

"NO!" he lunged forward and tackled her, rolling them towards the edge as a gunshot went off. Tania screamed and Clint managed to stop them just inches from falling over. There was only one way of this statue. He grabbed Tania's shoulders. "I'm going to throw you off the edge okay? Trust me to catch you and I'm sorry!" With that, he shoved her over the edge while she shrieked and he felt immense guilt wash over him – but it had to be done.

He stood up and grabbed his bow and arrow from his boot as fast as he could. A bullet lodged itself in the back of his vest and he stumbled forward with a grunt. He shot the arrow between his legs at the statue before leaping off the statue after Tania. He pressed a button on his bow while freefalling, expanding its size so that he could slip in between the handle and the string, hooking it around his waist before clapping his arms to his sides, making him fall faster.

Wind whistled in his ears as gravity pulled him rapidly toward the ground. A bit further down, he spotted Tania's flipping form. She looked unconscious. Shit. He stuck his legs together and dived forward, slamming his body into hers and wrapping his arms around her waist yet again. Yup. Definitely unconscious. She must have fainted. Fuckfuckfuckfuck.

He gripped her tightly and pressed the button on his bow again. He angled their bodies as the rope attached to his bow and the arrow above slowly pulled to a stop and he swung them in a wide arc around the statue. His bow dug into his stomach and he was doubly grateful for the vest he wore underneath even though he still couldn't breathe.

They swung in a complete circle until they were finally low enough to hit the ground without injury. He hit the button on his bow and the weight against his abdomen abruptly stopped pushing but they fell forward. He cradled Tania's form to his and tucked them into a messed up snow ball, rolling forward twice when his back impacted the ground.

He groaned but pushed himself to his feet after the second roll, adjusting his hold on Tania so that he was carrying her bridal style before looking around for the sniper. Bullets suddenly peppered the ground around him and he cursed before bolting away into the nearby trees.  
The sounds and screams of nearby people must've awoken Tania because she began to stir as he ran. Good. Maybe he wouldn't have to carry her the whole way. He didn't want to sound bitchy but it was just easier to fire back when he both his arms weren't full.

"Tania!" he shouted. "Wake up! We gotta run!"

She stirred and groaned again. Her eyes blinked open. "Wha-?"

"Can you run?" he barked at her.

Her eyes opened fully and she took in the situation, seeming more awake. She squirmed in his arms. "Run? What are we-?"

More gunshots went off and he stopped to hide behind a tree. He set her down on her feet and she seemed steady enough. "Stay here." He pulled his bow from around his waist over his head and began climbing the tree they were hiding behind.

"What's going on?" she hissed. She obviously wasn't thinking about what just happened or she would have totally bitten his head off for shoving her off the Statue of Liberty. He thanked whatever what out there that her mind was focused on the present as he continued climbing.

"Just don't move!" he shouted down at her. Before popping his head out of the tops of the trees, he grabbed another arrow from his boot and immediately pulled it back with his bow. He stood up to his full height and looked around, aiming his weapon wherever his eyes roamed.

There was a hot air balloon in the air that looked no bigger than a penny from this far away. There was no way the sniper could be in there. Not even his arrows could reach that far unless propelled by something extra. From the sound of the shots, Clint knew exactly what kind of gun the attacker was using and it didn't have that long a range.

He moved his gaze over to the roofs of the skyscrapers all around New York. He didn't see any shadows. He moved his arrow towards the statue and that's when he saw it. In the torch, higher than the crown, was the sniper, now alone. Clint released the string at the same time as the shooter fired and multiple times. The last one clipped him in the chest and he wobbled backwards unsteadily before falling through the many branches and the trees to the harsh ground.

He groaned, thanking the Kevlar vest he was wearing, again. It still hurt like a bitch though. Tania stared at him with worried eyes and he pushed himself to his feet. He reached into the back of his pants before handing her a gun. Her eyes widened and he grabbed her wrist, yanking her through the forest. He knew he killed the sniper – he never missed - but gunshots were still going off. There were more than one.

The two of them ran for their lives through the small forest of trees on Ellis island. They broke through eventually and hopped into an unattended boat which Clint pushed off the shore. How serendipitous.

Tania reached for ear out of instinct and activated the practically invisible comm Tony had installed. "This is Sonata, does anybody copy?" They used code names in case the line was ever hacked – even though Tony tried to tell them all that it was impossible. Clint yanked a string to get the motorboat started and they sped off in the water. Bullets splashed the water around them and Tania screamed again before slapping a hand over her own mouth to shut herself up. Clint resulted in evasive maneuvers while his companion gripped the edges of the boat with white knuckles.

She whipped her head to look behind them and paled even more. There was a boat following them. Oh God…

She eyed the gun in her hands warily. Clint suddenly spun them around in a complete circle to avoid being hit by more bullets and Tania's resolve hardened. She kept her grip on the boat firm and twisted her torso, raising her right arm with the gun. She had never fired one before. This should be interesting. She pulled the trigger but nothing happened.

"Take the safety off!" Clint yelled over the engine.

She panicked. "How do I do that?" she shouted back.

"Take the wheel!" he ordered before grabbing the gun without consent and standing up to turn and fire at them himself with deadly accuracy.

Tania lunged for the steering mechanism and did her best to avoid any objects that may be in the way like other boats and stuff. She tried to steer toward land as well but she had no idea how to drive this thing. The sensitivity of the steering wheel was very different from any of the cars she'd driven before and she was panicking inside.

A few seconds later, Clint sat back down. "You're doing great! Just keep going!" He held his gun aimed behind them.

"How many of them are there?" she yelled as the land got closer and closer.

"Three boats. Several people each," he answered, shooting twice more. She heard a loud crash behind them but didn't dare turn to look, afraid she might throw up or worse: crash the boat.

"Two down, one to go," Clint whispered, mainly to himself.

"How do I stop this thing?!"

"What?" He turned and gasped. They were closer to land than he thought. He quickly took over and managed to slow them down enough not to crash although the landing was rather rough. "KEEP GOING!" he yelled, probably a little too loudly but who cared? They were running for their lives with murderers on their tail. His ears still rang from the volume of the motor and so did hers.

The two of them dashed towards the city streets as they heard the boat behind them hit land. Clint tossed her the gun again before taking his bow, turning around, and firing. One of the two men following them took the arrow to the heart and fell dead, on the spot.

Tania grabbed his arm before he could shoot the last one and forced him to turn around. They had reached the busy intersection and he had been about to get run over by a car. He would thank her later.

"TAXI!" he called.

A yellow cab pulled up and he opened the driver side door before tossing the man aside. "Get in!" he commanded Tania before slamming the door shut behind him.

"Sorry about this!" the brunette apologized before sliding over the front of the cab and opening the passenger door. She hopped in and slammed it closed just as Clint pulled back into traffic and sped away. Tania brushed her messed up hair out of her eyes and turned to look behind them.

"The last one is following us!" she cried.

"Hang to your hat!" He floored it and swerved to avoid the other cars and hundreds of milling pedestrians. People around them screamed and dove out of their way while dozens of cars honked at them as they sped past. They were going around 60 miles per hour and Tania was hyperventilating.

Never one to completely threw logic to the wind, even in situations such as these, the business woman rolled up her window and buckled her seatbelt. As Clint no doubt headed for the Tower, Tania took a second to mourn the fact that no one had answered her call on the comm.  
Clint gave her a worried sideways glance. "I need you to lean out the window and shoot at him."

"WHAT?!"

"He's shooting at us Tania! We have to do something!" He rounded the sharpest corner she thought she'd ever felt as she whacked her head against the window.

"Okay! Okay!" She unbuckled her seatbelt and rolled down the window. She sucked in a deep breath before leaning out the window and sitting on the door. Because she was on the passenger side, she had to use her left hand to shoot.

She aimed her gun while gripping the handle on the inside ceiling of the car with her right hand, searching for the car with the murderer. She found him when a bullet whizzed by her head and she ducked back into the car.

"I can't do it! I can't do it!"

"Yes you can! I have faith in you like you had faith in me! You can do it!"

"I've never-"

"DO IT!"

"FINE!"

She leaned out the window again and fired without thinking. Her hand jerked upward and it took her some time to aim again with the wind whipping her hair into her face so that she couldn't see very well and Clint's fast and evasive driving. The car with the man she now hated didn't waver off its course and he fired back just as Clint turned a corner, nearly causing Tania to fall right out of the car.

She kept her grip on the handle firm and realigned her shot, aiming for the attacker's tires. She pulled the trigger multiple times, always seeming to come close but never hitting her intended target. She heard a gunshot and felt pain explode in her sternum. She cried out and the firearm slipped through her fingers.

She'd just been shot. Her grip on the handle loosened and she tilted dangerously toward the road. Fear seized her and her hold tightened. She used her remaining strength to pull herself back in and forced herself to breathe through the excruciating pain that constricted her lungs.

"You okay?" Clint asked, eyes darting between the side mirror and the road ahead.

"Just… peachy. I've… got a bullet… in my ribcage," she huffed out.

His eyes widened.

"Dropped… gun. Just… keep driving."

He nodded and pressed harder on the gas pedal (if that was even possible). "The Tower is just around the next block."

She barely nodded but with his peripheral vision as good as it was he saw it. He didn't acknowledge it though. He just kept driving. He spun the steering wheel to the right and the back of the car careened to the left. The glass of the backseat window shattered and shards were flung up to the front. One particularly sharp piece slashed the right side of his cheek while another sliced the back of Tania's left hand.

He ground his teeth and straightened the car before speeding forward. His hold on the steering wheel was so tight he thought he might break it. He would not let those bastards get to Tania. He would die first.

He spun the wheel to the left and the same result happened. The left backseat window shattered and he got a nasty cut on both hands while she her coat was torn in several places.

He ignored the blood dribbling down his face and hands and the bullets lodged into his vest on both sides. He'd been through worse – MUCH worse. He swerved the car less violently this time and saw Avengers Tower up ahead.

Relief washed through both of them before the rear window of the cab exploded and bullets shot through to the front. Both of them ducked behind their seats.

"OPEN THE GARAGE!" he yelled to her.

She rummaged through her pocket and removed her phone. It was cracked. Oh well. She typed in a message to JARVIS to open the door. "And send!" she cried out to let Clint know that the deed was done.

No more bullets were being fired. The guy must have finally run out of ammo. Finally. In front of them, the back of the Tower loomed. The huge garage door had just finished opening when the taxi zoomed inside. Tania leaned out the window as Clint spun the vehicle around and around to try and avoid destroying all the other cars.

"CLOSE THE DOOR!"

The door began mechanically lowering and it was few inches from the ground when the attacker's car crashed into it, denting it so much it looked like a mangled piece of scrap. It went up in flames.


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N. Heya :) So, 3 reviews last chapter. I'm going to be honest say I was kind of disappointed seeing as I really loved that chapter but if some of you guys didn't I understand :) they should really warn you when you start writing fanfiction that reviews are EXTREMELY addicting. I basically live off them now. xP Anyway, here's the next chapter, not as long but still longer than usual. Hope you enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER IV

"Oh my God!" Tania exclaimed, getting out of the car once it was parked. "Where's the fire extinguisher? DUMMY!"

The robot in question beeped and rolled toward the door before spraying white foam all over the fire. It took a few seconds but the door was no longer burning.

"Stay here," Clint ordered Tania. He pulled back his bowstring and slowly walked toward the door as DUMMY backed up. The archer hooked his foot beneath the metal and with a mighty grunt, he kicked it up into the ceiling. JARVIS must have gotten the message and helped a little as well.

The enemy's car was absolutely wrecked and smoke was billowing out of the front. Clint heard Tania's barely audible gasp as he stepped forward, aiming the tip of his arrow wherever he looked. He walked over to the driver's side and peeked in through the shattered glass.

Blood was splattered all over the window and the seat and the dashboard. The airbag had been punctured by the shards of glass and was deflated in his lap. His head lolled and his arms lay by his side uselessly. Clint nudged his leg with his foot. No reaction. Not even a tic. He lowered his bow and pressed two fingers to the attacker's neck. Nada.

He strolled back into the garage while contracting his bow and replacing it in the back of his jacket. He shook his head at Tania. "He's dead."

She looked up at him. The sheer amount of fear in her eyes was enough to make him stop in his tracks. She was shaking like a leaf and her adrenaline was wearing off. She clutched her jacket uselessly, right in front of where she had been shot and her knees looked like they were about to buckle- oh shit!

Clint lunged forward and just barely managed to catch her when she fell. He cursed. Steve was going to kill him. He lifted his ear to his comm. "This is Hawkeye, does anybody copy?"

"This is Hulk, I copy."

"This is S'mores, I copy." That was Graham. Clint rolled his eyes.

"This is… um… Mrs. Hulk?" Betty, obviously.

"Tis Thor! God of thunder! And the Lady Pe- er, Rescue, would like me to tell you that she is in a meeting but she is listening."

The others weren't responding. They were probably busy at this time of day anyway. Well, in England it was about five o'clock at night… still.  
"Everyone," Clint barked into his comm, "we've just been attacked. We've been chased all the way back to HQ and we're fine but we've both been shot."

A chorus of "WHAT?!" echoed from every person online and Clint had to wince at the volume.

"We're both wearing Kevlar vests so we're fine, but Sonata fainted. I think she might be a little traumatized."

"Bring her here and let me have a look at you both," Bruce ordered, almost always the calm and rational one.

Clint nodded and lifted Tania off the cold ground of the parking garage. He nodded at DUMMY. "Thanks. I'll have Tony upgrade you or something." He looked up at the ceiling. "Jarvis? Where is-?"

"In his room, Agent Barton."

"Thank you."

* * *

A few minutes later, Clint carried Tania onto Bruce and Betty's floor. He marched right into their bedroom without asking, careful not to hit the brunette in his arms on anything as he did so.

Betty sat up immediately from her nervous perch on the bed while Bruce stopped pacing and rushed over. "Set her on the bed," he commanded.

Clint obeyed without protest and lay her down vertically on the plush King-sized furniture. "Nice," he whispered to himself.

The married couple ignored him and began hovering. Betty was obviously anxious. She was pulling and twirling and playing with her hair and fidgeting restlessly. Bruce appeared somewhat spazzed as well, but he hid it for the most part. He started unbuttoning Tania's jacket.

"Gee, wonder what Cap would say if he saw this," Clint wondered aloud in the hopes of lightning the mood.

Bruce snorted. "That reminds me, we're gonna have to call him if Tania doesn't wake up soon."

Clint paled. That wouldn't be a fun conversation. There was no doubt in his mind that the Captain would be fucking pissed. At him no less. Before he could think about it further, Betty was in front of him. "You got shot too. Take off your coat and your vest."

He sighed but followed orders, shrugging off his winter clothing and catching his bow expertly before it fell to the ground. He placed it on a nearby arm chair and removed his vest. He hissed as he pulled it away and lifted it over his head.

Over by the bed, Bruce checked Tania's pulse and temperature. She was rather cold and her heart was beating a little faster than normal. She was also incredibly and unhealthily white.

"What happened?" he asked while removing her bullet proof vest.

Clint shrugged. "I took her to the statue of Liberty."

"More please."

He sighed. "I used my bow to take us on top of her crown."

"You mean in it?"

"No, on top of it. We talked for a while before I noticed a red dot on her body and I shoved her off the statue. That's when I got shot in the back." He gestured to the spot he remembered the bullet had been. Bruce and Betty were staring incredulously at him. He didn't let them get a word in and continued his spiel faster than he thought possible. "I caught her and we both swung into the trees. She had fainted while falling and then woke up and we ran. We had a boat chase off Ellis Island and then another chase on foot and oh, I got shot in the chest when we were in the trees by the way, and then we hijacked a taxi and took off. The other guy at the same idea and hijacked someone's else's car to come after us. We had this epic car chase where I was driving and Tania was shooting at him but then she got shot and dropped the gun. The glass windows in the back were all shattered and we scraped by the door of the garage here whereas the attacker rammed into it and blew up. The end."

Betty was staring at him like he was alien. He frowned. He hated that look more than almost anything. Bruce had the same look on his face but he was concentrating on disinfecting the cut on Tania's hand.

"Anything else we should know?" he asked.

Clint nodded. "Yeah. It's not just one person after Tania. There's a whole pack. Like, an entire herd of killers were chasing us."

"How did they find you?"

"I don't know. I mean it's not like I- Oh fuck."

"What?"

Clint slapped himself on the forehead. "I threw a flare grenade off the Statue of Liberty."

"What?! Why?"

"To distract people so that I could take Tania onto the crown of Lady Liberty."

"Well that was a very stupid idea."

"I see that now, thank you Dr. Phil," the assassin snapped back.

"Well, she seems fine. The bullet didn't do much damage other than one hell of a bruise on her sternum and the cut is minor. But I think you're right. She's probably traumatized."

Guilt washed over him like a tidal wave as he stared at the pale figure that lay before him. He'd taken her out. He'd brought the attention of several killers to them. He'd forced her to shoot at them. He'd thrown her off a statue – her biggest fear. It was his fault she was here.  
Suddenly, Bruce stood up and addressed him. "Your turn."

After a thorough "examination", Bruce and Betty left to go console Graham and talk to Thor and Pepper, but not before giving Clint the evil eye and telling him that he was going to be the one to tell Steve.

He sighed and sat down on the bed next to Tania. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I'm such an idiot!" he clenched his fists in the sheets. "I should never have taken you to the Statue in the first place and I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

He reached into his pocket for his phone only to see that it had been destroyed. It was probably from his fall from the treetops or from the fall from the monument. He sighed and tossed it into the trash across the room. "Swish," he mumbled. "Hey Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Can you call Steve, please?"

"Certainly."

A dull ringing sound echoed throughout the room once. Twice. Tania stirred. Three times. Her eyes fluttered open. Four times. Click. "Rogers."

Clint gulped, staring at Tania wide eyed. She didn't seem very coherent. His hopes died. He cleared his throat. "Um, hey Cap. It's Clint."

"Were you trying to reach us just now? On the… um, comm, I think it is?"

"Yeah, that was me."

"What happened? Do the Avengers need to assemble?"

"Um, no. But what happened is rather important. Is it possible to get Tony and Natasha on speakerphone?"

"Speakerphone?"

"Never mind. Pass the phone to Tony for a sec, would ya?"

"Um, okay."

There was faint shuffling as the phone on the other end was handed off. Tania groaned and sat up, leaning against the head board. Clint motioned for her to be quiet. She obeyed.

"Sup, Buttercup?"

"I need you to put me on speaker."

"Aw, and here I thought you wanted to talk to me."

"Stark…"

"Relax, I did it. Say hi, Stalin."

"Clint, what's wrong? We couldn't answer your comms before because we were in public."

The archer sucked in a deep breath. "There was another assassination attempt."

Silence. He cringed. "Attempt? That's good, right? It means that our singing prodigy is still alive. Right?" Clint, being the observant Hawk he was, noticed the slight panic in Tony's voice.

"Yeah, she's fine. I don't suppose you want the whole stor-?"

"Yes," Steve interrupted before he could finish the question. Oh boy.

"Okay, well-"

"Steve?" Tania called, rubbing her eyes groggily.

"Tania!"

Uh oh. "What- what's going on?"

"… you don't remember?"

"Not right now."

"Clint," Steve barked, "What. Happened?"

The archer gulped. "Um, well you see, I thought it would be a good idea to take Tania out of the Tower."

A series of groans echoed throughout the room from Ireland. "Clint, you IDIOT!"

"I know, Tasha, I know. But everything turned out okay."

"Did it?" Tania asked, looking at him with innocent, un-traumatized eyes. He swallowed down the lump in his throat. That look would be gone in a second when her memories came flooding back.

He nodded at her. "Yeah. So, I took her to Statue of Liberty-"

"She's afraid of heights!" Steve intercepted forcefully.

"You moron!" Natasha insulted again. This was going to be a long phone call if they kept this up.

"Guys, let me finish! Okay, so we get to the crown and in order to sneak away from the tourist group I… threw a flare grenade out the window." Natasha began swearing in multiple different languages, all of which Clint understood. He winced at some of the harsh names she called him and could hear Steve's deep, uneven breathing in the background. Not good. "I used my bow and took her up to the top of the crown. We lay there for who knows how long, but you had fun, right Tania?" Slowly, she nodded. Okay, so she remembered that much. "How much do you remember?"

"Um, talking about my birthday."

Yikes. Forget about Steve killing him. SHE was going to kill him when she remembered. "Um, well, I saw a red dot on your chest and I tackled you. The bullet missed but I… well, um…" he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Suddenly, Tania's eyes widened and she began crawling backward away from him. "You-!" she fell off the bed only to pop back up a second later. "You pushed me off the statue!"

Several gasps nearly broke his eardrums. Natasha's heavy cursing was even louder and more harsh than ever before and in the background, Clint could hear Tony trying to calm down their Captain before he broke something.

Tania was looking at him he could see plainly on her face the betrayal written all over her feminine features. He winced and let it show because she needed to see that he felt guilt for what he did and that he deserved her hatred.

"Do you remember what I said to you, though? Before I… pushed you off?"

She looked down, thinking hard. "You told me to trust you to catch me."

"Which I did."

"How?" Tony asked. "It's not like you can fly."

"I stood up and shot a grappling arrow between my legs into the statue's head. That's when I got shot in the back." Everyone, gasped, including Tania, who hadn't been there for that. "Don't worry guys! Before I continue, both Tania and I were wearing bullet proof vests."

"That don't always work!" Natasha hissed.

"Well today they did. Anyway, I dove after her and caught her. I swung us around until we landed in the forest. It turns out that Tania had fainted on the way down and I had to carry her for a little bit. The sniper kept shooting at us but then she woke up and I was able to put her down. I climbed into a tree and shot him with an arrow. At the same time, he shot me in the chest and I fell out of the tree." He ignored Natasha's incessant cursing in Russian in the background and plowed on. "So then we had this huge boat chase where I shot most of the guys following us-"

"There were more?" Steve and Tony chorused incredulously.

"Uh, yeah. Hang on. I'm almost done. So, then we get back on land which leads to this huge car chase. Long story short, I drove, she shot. She got shot. Dropped her gun. He shot us. Glass smashed. We made it back. He crashed into the garage door and died. Tania fainted. Tania woke up. And they all lived happily ever after, yay!"

He swore he heard crickets. On the floor beside the bed, Tania turned pale again. "I got shot… holy SHIT I got shot!" She reached up to her chest as if she could claw the bullet out.

Clint leaped over the bed and landed on the floor on a crouch before grabbing her wrists to prevent her from scratching herself. "TANIA! Tania! Tania, listen to me! You were wearing a Kevlar vest! You're fine! The bullet is gone! The man is dead."

"Dead," she repeated like a robot as she stopped squirming. "Dead. He's… dead."

"What's wrong with her?" Steve's frantic disembodied voice asked.

"I think she's in shock."

"Fall." She looked up at him. "You made me fall!"

"Do you even remember falling?" She shuddered and curled in on herself, huddling into a tight ball. "I'm gonna take that as an unfortunate yes."

"You-!" Steve growled in place of an insult before continuing, "I'm coming over there."

"Did you find the guy responsible?"

"No-"

"Then you need to stay there. Tony and Tasha need you. I can take care of Tania."

"Evidence points to NO YOU CAN'T."

"STEVE! Look, there are multiple people after Tania right now. I managed to kill nine of them but there could be more. Until you guys get a real lead, the Tower will be on lockdown and Tania will be safe. You don't need to be here. You need to stay wherever you are and get the job done."

His deep breathing encompassed the room as everyone waited for his answer. Finally, he replied, "Take good care of her. And this time, I MEAN IT."

Clint winced again. Right. Okay. He could do that. "Don't worry Steve, I got this."

"You'd better," he mumbled.

"Clint," Natasha called, "England was a bust. Zane is clean."

"And Flannigan?"

"We just finished interrogating him. That's why we couldn't answer you before. It took a while, but he's clean too."

Clint nodded. "That leaves Austerlitz."

"We'll be ten-seventeen in twenty minutes."

"Ten-four. ETA?"

"Twenty-one hundred hours."

"Copy that."

"Clint?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't fuck up this time."

He sighed and sneaked another look at Tania. Colour was returning to her skin tone, which was a good sign. She was breathing normally, also a good sign. She was staring blankly into space – not a good sign.

"I won't."

She said farewell in Russian before Tony took over. "Okay, you're off speaker phone. Tell Jarvis to initiate the Mandarin Protocol. The whole Tower will go on Lock Down."

"Got it."

"… What Natashalie said."

There was shuffling as the phone was no doubt passed to Steve. "Barton, you and I will be having a serious talk when we get back."  
Clint closed his eyes. "I know."

"Could I… talk to Tania, please? Alone."

The archer eyed his friend warily. She blinked furiously before looking him straight in the eye. She sucked in a breath, paused, and then nodded. He pushed himself to his feet. "Alright." If you need me, I'll be right outside.

She nodded and began signing back. If I need you, I'll come get you.

When he left, Tania clambered back onto the bed and lay down, closing her eyes and pretending that Steve was really with her instead of over the phone. "Hi Steve."

Relief flooded his tone in waves. "Hi Darling. Are you okay?"

"… I think so. I'm not hurt, I just… it's a lot to take in, you know?"

"I know."

"I… dropped off the Statue of Liberty. That's like, almost a hundred meters."

"I know. But you were apparently unconscious for most of it."

"Apparently."

"And you… remember it?"

"I remember the shock and disbelief when Clint told me he was going to push me off. I almost didn't believe him. That's when he did it and I felt paralyzing fear squeeze my entire body. Everything was a blur and colours were rushing past and I couldn't hold anything, couldn't control anything, couldn't see anything couldn't hear anything more than the roar of the wind and it was terrifying! I couldn't… I couldn't sense! I just knew that I was falling to my death and that's kind of when I just… accepted it. I closed my eyes, thinking I was going to die."

"But you didn't. You're he- er, there. You're there at the Tower and you're safe. You're not going to fall again."

She huffed out a breath of air. "I know. But that fear is still… lingering."

"I get it. That probably won't go away for a while."

"And then there was the fact that I held a gun. Not only that, but I used it to try and shoot somebody! I missed and never hit anything but still! I tried… I tried to kill someone!" Her breathing was picking up.

"Were you aiming at their chest or head?"

"N-no. I was… was actually aiming for the tires."

"Then you didn't try to kill him. And it was self-defense. In a situation like that, it's usually kill or be killed. And you tried to find a compromise."

"I… I guess. But… but now he's dead."

"That's his own fault. From what I understand, he crashed himself into that garage when he could have turned away a lot earlier. He killed himself."

"And Clint… he shot them without a care in the world."

"That's his job. He kills people for a living – but he kills the bad people. I kill people too Tania. I was in a war."

She bit her lip. "I know, I just… he was so… unfazed by it."

"That's just how he is. He's been doing this for a very long time."

"And then I got shot." A hand fluttered to her chest where the bullet should be; but wasn't. She touched it carefully and winced. It stung quite a bit but she was fine. She could breathe normally again. "I've never been shot before."

"You were wearing Kevlar, Tania."

"I know but… it hurt."

"I know. I wish I could be there but I'm not and… We're gonna get this guy Tania. We're going to get all of them and you are going to be safe."

"You're a better therapist than Bruce."

He laughed breathily over the phone. "Are you feeling better?" he asked hopefully.

She nodded even if he couldn't see her. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. Thanks Steve. I love you.

"Love you too. Don't go anywhere until I get there."

"I won't."

"Bye."

"Bye."

JARVIS hung up the call and Tania sighed. She sat up with some difficulty and swung her legs over the edge. She kicked off her shoes and picked them up before padding along the carpet over to the door. When she exited into the hallway, she found Clint sitting next to the door with his knees pulled up to his chest and his head resting in his hands.

She dropped her shoes and sat next to him, leaning her back against the wall and spreading her legs out. "Clint," she nudged his shoulder with her own. He turned his head so that one stormy grey eye looked at her. "I don't… I'm not going to hold what you did against you."

"You should," he whispered.

"But I'm not going to. I'm sorry."

"For what?" He removed his hands so that he faced her completely.

"For blaming you initially. For not trusting you when you told me you'd catch me or when you promised you'd keep me safe."

"But I didn't."

"You did catch me and I'm still safe. You did your job."

"Is that what you think this is to me? A job? Tania, I'm protecting you because you're one of my closest friends and I care about you. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'm not made of glass, Clint."

"I know. Neither is Natasha but I worry about her all the time."

She softened even further. "I'm sorry I made you worry. I can't believe I fainted twice when I didn't even faint the first time I fell from the Tower."

"You weren't scared of heights then. Now you are."

"Still. Fainting just screams damsel in distress and I hate it." She crossed her arms and pouted like a little kid.

He chuckled at her. "You sound like Nat."

"Well it's true. I don't like needing to be rescued."

"We all need to be rescued sometimes. There was this one time in Jamaica when I got compromised on a mission and Nat totally saved my ass. Wasn't the first time, either. I've saved her a number of times too. I'm pretty sure every member of this team has saved each other at least once."

"Yeah, well, I don't think I've saved anyone yet. It's always been you guys save me."

"You save Bruce from himself all the time."

"I don't think that counts."

"I do. And you saved some of those kids at the school shooting."

"Yeah…"

"And today when we were running, you save me from being run over by a car."

A smile started to play on her lips as she remembered that particular incident. "I guess."

"So let's get this straight. You save us we save you. No one minds, honestly. Well okay, we mind if your health is at stake but we don't blame you. We just don't like the fact that something is threatening to take you away from us or hurt you.

"And to recap what you said about me. You're saying that you don't blame me and that I shouldn't feel guilty about what I did because it was the right thing to do."

She nodded in agreement. "Exactly."

"… I'm still gonna feel guilty."

"And I'm still gonna hate needing to be rescued."

"… well at least we sort of feel better."

"Sort of."

"Shall we go downstairs?"

She wrinkled her nose. "And have the others smother me? No thanks."

"Fine then. Jarvis, activate the Mandarin protocol."

"Yes, Sir."


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N. Hey guys! Sorry for the delay. I haven't been feeling too well and the lack of reviews kind of brought me down, but I'm not going to let that stop me :) To make up for the lack of updates, here is a nice, long chapter and another one ****_may_**** follow sometime tonight. Not sure yet. Stay tuned and enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER XV

Steve sighed as he hung up the phone. He ran a hand over his face in exasperation. Tania had almost died – again. And he was hundreds of miles away across the ocean. Someone had tried to kill her. He hadn't noticed how tightly he had been holding the phone until he looked down at his hand and saw the cracked remains of glass that used to be his screen.

"Easy there, Cap," Tony consoled while lugging his suitcase onto the hidden jet. "Piggy Bank is fine. Austerlitz is our guy. We'll catch him."

Steve pocketed his phone and grabbed his duffel bag from the forest floor, where they'd hidden their transportation. He hefted it onto his shoulder before boarding the jet behind the billionaire. "Oh we'll catch him. I'm going to make sure of that."

Natasha eyed him warily from the cockpit. Despite having JARVIS drive them, she liked being able to see all the controls should anything happen. As she sat there and listened, she found that she didn't like Steve's tone very much. It was full of hatred and scorn for this Austerlitz guy. That was not the Captain America way. She would have invited him into the cockpit for a chat but she knew that Steve stayed as far away from the pilot's seat as possible. It gave him horrible flashbacks.

Deciding not to keep her headset on so she could better monitor her leader with her ears, she turned to the window in front of her.

In the back, oblivious to the assassin's observation, Tony and Steve sat on seats opposite each other as the hatch door closed itself. Steve's bag lay on a shelf above his head while Tony's luggage was stuffed under his bench along with Natasha's.

"Is everyone ready?" JARVIS asked, as was protocol and precaution before every flight.

"Ready as can be, Jarvis. Take us up."

"Yes, Sir."

The loud thrumming noise began to crescendo as the jet vibrated. Tony opened his mouth to say something kinky before closing it. Steve wouldn't get the joke and Natasha would probably kill him. Around them, the cloaked jet created a swirling vortex of wind as the engines fired up. It hovered above ground, blowing the grass and trees roughly away from the vehicle. It rose until it was well above the treetops and into the clouds before zooming forward loudly.

Once in the air, the thrumming died down to a small hum and the passengers were free to walk around the cabin. Unable to sit down and keep still, Steve stood up and leaned his forearm against the wall, bracing his head against it and stuffing his other hand in his jeans pocket.  
Even though Tony hadn't been on the quinjet with Steve and Coulson when the Captain had done that very move, the genius figured out rather quickly that he had something troubling him. Since Natasha was up front and unable to see Steve's "oh woe is me" pose, it was left up to him to fix the first Avenger.

Oh goody for him. "Hey Spangles," he called to grab the man's attention. Steve hummed in response, obviously still lost in his thoughts. Tony rolled his eyes. "Listen, Tania is protected by a master assassin, a raging Hulk, a demi-god, a friggin' scary CEO, a brilliant scientist, and an overprotective brother."

"I as well have been taking extra care to look after Miss Banks," JARVIS put in.

"See!" Tony gestured to the ceiling. "Even Jarvis is protecting your other half. She's fine. Take your own advice and move on."

"How would you react?" Steve turned around and leaned his back against the wall, crossing his arms.

The question caught him off guard and Tony simply leaned forward, elbows placed on his knees. "Huh?"

"How would you react, if it were Pepper in her place?" He reiterated.

Tony blew a raspberry and scratched his goatee thoughtfully. "Do you want the honest truth or something that will make you feel better?"  
The sarcastic and challenging look in the Captain's eyes said it all: honesty. The philanthropist sighed. "Fine then. I probably would have gone on some sort of rampage, not eaten or drank for says, let go of myself looking for, and probably would have gone bat shit crazy."

Natasha snickered.

"I heard that!"

"I know."

"Anyway, so yeah. You're handling this a lot better than I would, but still. You're brooding and sulking is seriously bringing me down."

"And what do you suggest I do to alleviate that?"

"Hey Red, crank up the tunes!"

"Let me guess. ACDC?"

"Of course!"

She rolled her eyes. "Jarvis? Would you please?"

"Of course, Agent Romanoff."

ACDC began blasting through the surround sound speakers Tony had installed and poles rose from the floor. He grinned. "Come on Spidey, come on out here and give us a dance!" He whistled.

She turned around and stood up, making her way over to them. Tony's grin melted off his face when he saw that she really was going for the poles. What would Pepper say if she found out about this? He only flirted with the spy because he knew she would never oblige – it was harmless.

He gulped as Natasha lightly grabbed the pole and sent him a sultry look. Steve was watching with wide eyes, unable to comprehend the Natasha he knew actually listening to Stark and… pole dancing for him.

The red head gripped the pole and jumped spinning around effortlessly in a horizontal line before twisting and sending her foot directly into Tony's jaw, snapping his head to the side.

"Natasha!" Steve chastised as she landed gracefully to her feet, shoes clicking the metal floor one at a time. She removed her hand from the golden pole.

"Be careful what you wish for Stark," she warned before strolling back to the cockpit, hips swinging as she did so.

Tony rubbed his cheek and stared after her. "Well Damn."

Steve blinked.

"Did I lose a tooth? I feel like a lost a tooth. Can you peek in my mouth and check? I think I taste blood."

Tony opened his mouth wide and Steve just had to laugh.

* * *

They arrived in Germany and landed in one of the only SHIELD run airports in the world. After unloading their things and allowing the other agents to take in Stark's jet, the trio rented another car before heading to another SHIELD safe house for the night.

Being in Germany didn't bring back as many memories as Steve thought it would. It was probably because he didn't see much of anything in the dark, seeing as it was nine o'clock at night in January and when he did catch glimpses of something, it would never be anything he recognized.

The only thing that made him reel back was the German language. The agents stationed in Berlin all spoke it fluently and Steve was painfully reminded of Dr. Erskine, Schmidt, and Zola. He winced unnoticeably before plowing on, blocking the language from his ears.

The constant changing of time zones and erratic schedules had completely messed up with his sleeping patterns. His pocket watch that doubled as a compass still had the time zone Tania was in. He took it just to look sometimes and think about her. It helped, knowing that hers was always somewhere on her person.

So when they eventually arrived at the house, he realized it was only a little past three o'clock in the afternoon where his girlfriend was. That would explain why he wasn't the least bit tired. But he knew he'd have to get up at six a.m. German time if he wanted to catch Austerlitz at an appropriate time.

So he took his time having dinner with the others (homemade food Clint had cooked and then frozen for them to put in the microwave) before changing, brushing his teeth, and going to bed. He lay there for hours, unable to fall asleep. He assumed the others were in a similar position in their rooms with a lack of drowsiness.

Eventually, he fell asleep at around midnight. At precisely six a.m. the next morning, his alarm went off. He groaned and blinked awake. He sat up, pushing the light covers off of his body before swinging his legs over the edge to the cold, wood floor. He fiddled with his phone, unable to make the buzzing stop with all the cracks in it messing it up. He settled for hitting it against the nightstand. It worked.

He sighed in relief, testing to make sure it still worked. It did – miraculously. The benefits of Stark technology: durability was a must.

He quickly dressed in a T-shirt and shorts and wrapped his hands. He was going to the gym. He still felt the frustrations and worry from yesterday and he needed to hit something, to let it all out with blow after blow.

After a little bit of wandering, he finally found a small room with matts for floors and one punching bag in the middle of the room, dangling from a rusty chain. It would have to do.

He walked up to it and began punching, practicing all his different hits and imagining that he was beating up this Austerlitz guy. Not fifteen minutes later did his phone ring.

He caught the bad mid swing, barely out of breath yet. He walked over to his cracked cell phone and picked it up. A picture of Tania's smiling face was distorted on the screen. He immediately tried to pick up. It took several tries and a few mumbled curses before he got it to answer.

"Tania?"

No answer. Had he hung up on her accidentally? He looked down at the screen. Oh. A text. Right. He squinted to read the small writing.

_Good morning Dear._

He furrowed his eyebrows and checked his pocket watch. He started texting back as fast as he could (which wasn't very fast considering the state of his phone).

_What are you doing up? I thought it was six hours behind where you are?_

There was a small pause before she texted back.

_Nightmare._

He furrowed his eyebrows in worry.

_Would you like to talk about it?_

_… Maybe._

_Tell me._

And she did.

* * *

_It was pouring rain and Tania was drenched, standing in the middle of an abandoned street with a gun in her hands. She was dressed in her usual work suit and it clung to her body uncomfortably. She was shaking, but whether it was from cold or from fear she had yet to decipher._

_"Tania!" she whipped around towards the voice. At the other end of the street was Clint. He was being held captive by a man in a black ski mask dressed all in black._

_"Clint! NO!" She ran toward him but she was never getting any closer or farther away. He stayed the same distance away. The raindrops meshed with her tears of fear._

_"Tania! Shoot him!"_

_"Wha-? I-I can't! I'll miss! I'll hurt you!"_

_Even at such a great distance, she could hear his voice clearly. "You have to do it! It's the only way!"_

_"I can't!"_

_"TANIA!"_

_She watched in horror as the man shot in the back of the head, point blank. She screamed as blood spurted onto the man's black clothes and Clint fell forward, smashing onto the cold, wet, cement. She couldn't see the corpse very well, it was more just a silhouette in the distance through the rain but she knew he was dead. And it was her fault. "CLINT!"_

_The man that had shot him pulled back his mask and grinned evilly at her. It was "Hal" from the hotel lobby in Philadelphia. "You're next."_

* * *

Well… that was certainly a nightmare. Steve knew what he had to do. He quickly typed in another text.

_Call me._

He picked up on the first ring.

"Tania," he said in greeting, "It wasn't real."

"I know."

"If it were real, Clint would have gotten himself out of that mess easily," he said, trying to make light of the situation. It worked somewhat.

She chuckled. "I suppose you're right. I just… it scared me, Steve. A lot."

"I know the feeling."

A silence followed in which neither of them really knew what to say. Steve's body was begging for sleep and his brain was praying to get rid of this exhaustion but he wanted to hold onto her voice a little longer. Just to soothe her nerves as well as his own.

"What are you doing right now?" She asked, breaking the pause.

"I'm at the gym of one of the SHIELD houses in Berlin."

"So I didn't wake you?"

"Not at all. Jet lag tends to mess with a person's head. I'm usually awake around this time with a few exceptions. Well, this time your time."

She laughed quietly, vibrating the phone next to his ear and he smiled. "Okay, good. If you'd have said yes I probably would have hung up on you."

He chuckled. "The others should be up soon. We're headed over to Austerlitz at seven thirty."

"Good luck."

"Thank you. Hey, is the Tower still on Lock Down?" He wanted to make sure that she was still safe, still taking every precaution, and still well-protected.

"Yes. All the doors have been barred and locked unless any of the Avengers and those trusted enough have the DNA codes to get in or out. All the windows have been reinforced with extra-bullet proof glass and Jarvis is on high alert for strangers anywhere near the Tower as well as strange behaviour. Even the workers have been banned from the Tower."

"Good. I mean, not good for them, but, uh…" he began to blush at his fumbling words.

"Haha, I know what you mean. But as for the 'good for me' thing, I'm not so sure I agree. I mean, isn't this a little much?"

"That kind of thing is exactly what makes the Tower one of the safest places in the world."

"Okay…"

The soft padding of footsteps in the hallway alerted Steve to another presence. He picked himself up off the floor and pressed the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he started unwrapping his hands.

"I'll call you later, okay? I think I heard Natasha wake up."

"Okay, Dear. Good-ni- er, Good-bye."

He smiled. "Goodnight. Love you Darling."

"I love you too."

He hung up the phone before pocketing it and the wrap before making his way to his room. He passed by Natasha and nodded at her. "Good morning."

"Morning." She nodded back. A few steps after having passed each other, the soldier heard his name being called. He turned around to face her. She was already dressed in her disguise for the day: cropped, black wig with green eyes and a dark complexion with what looked like one of Pepper's business suits. "How are you?"

He was confused not so much by her question, but her delayed reaction to asking it after they'd started going their separate ways. "I'm holding up. You?" It was only polite to ask.

"Worried."

"About Tania?"

"Yes, but mostly I'm worried about you."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Me?"

"You're constantly distracted with thoughts of her. You need to keep focused if we're going to bring this guy to justice."

"I'll be focused, trust me."

Those last words brought her up short and she inhaled a sharp intake of breath. "What I'm worried about is that this guy doesn't want Tania. They'll want one of us. Most likely you. Which means this could all be a trap."

"Natasha, all that matters to me is Tania's safety."

"Which is the exact kind of attitude that is going to get you killed. You need to come home, if not for your sake then for hers. For ours," she said, referring to their team and family.

"Nat," he called, using her nickname for the first time. He saw her features soften a little. "I'm not suicidal. I want to come home. I'm determined to."

She saw how careful he was with his words. He hadn't explicitly stated that he would come home. He'd just stated that he would try his hardest. With her line of work, Natasha knew that anything could happen and some promises just couldn't be kept or were too risky to put out there. She nodded. His determination and focus were all she wanted.

"That's all I ask." With that, she turned and walked down the hallway to the wooden staircase that led to the kitchen.

Steve stared after her for a few seconds more before walking over to his room. He changed into his disguise (brown wavy hair, a beard, and more modern clothes) and quickly made his way downstairs for breakfast.

Tony was already there, wearing a bald cap (he was not too happy about that…) and another cover for his beard. Natasha was working on his makeup while he squirmed (again) and two empty bowls with spoons sat on the table with leftover cereal flakes stuck to the sides.

"Ow! Watch it, Widow. You almost poked my eye out!"

"Whoops." She didn't sound at all sorry.

Steve shook his head and chuckled at them as he sat down at the table. He poured himself a bowl of cereal as well and filled it to the brim, knowing he'd have seconds afterward. He scooped a large spoonful into his mouth.

A little while later, they were off. It took only ten minutes to drive the sleek black rental car to the moderately average house. Like the first two times, Steve and Tony would be the ones backing up Natasha who was more experienced with this kinds of things.

Just as she rang the doorbell, she turned to look at them over her hastily thrown on tortoiseshell glasses. "Just so you two know, German is one of the only languages I don't speak."

Steve and Tony gaped at her just before the door opened and they quickly rearranged their faces to look blank. A blond haired blue eyed woman who appeared to be in her late forties answered the door. Before she could get a word in, Natasha spoke up in a flawless French accent.

"Good morning. My name is Charlotte LeBlanc, of Interpol." She flashed her badge, as did Steve and Tony. "My companions are Simon Égard," Tony, "and Arthur Deschambault," Steve. "Is Mr. Austerlitz here?"

The woman was visibly shaking. Natasha seemed to have that effect on people. "N-no. He is at a five day meeting at the hotel downtown. I have not seen him since Thursday. He said he would be back sometime tomorrow." She spoke with a heavy German accent but her English was almost perfect. "W-why would you need to see him? Surely he has done no wrong?"

Steve and Tony glanced at each other anxiously. Should they tell this oblivious woman what her husband was suspect of? Natasha had her own ideas as she replied back easily. "Not that we know of, but we have reason to believe he may have been a part of something that may have done wrong. I am afraid I can give you no more information until the guilty party is caught, but thank you for your time."

"Um… you are very welcome." The nameless woman closed the door while the three Avengers backed off the porch steps towards the car.

"Tony, get Jarvis to give us the location of the hotel Austerlitz was last seen at," the red head ordered as she got into the driver's seat.

"Shotgun!" The genius called out before hopping into the passenger seat.

Steve huffed but got into the back without complaint. "Who's to say this guy is at the hotel? He might still be in America for all we know."

"I got the address," Tony interrupted.

"Good. Take us there." Natasha started the ignition and pulled off the curb, looking both ways to make sure she didn't hit anything,

"Jarvis, GPS-mode."

"Yes, Sir."

Tony folded back the monitor on his laptop and a three dimensional holographic projection of a map of Germany popped up. He pinched his fingers before spreading them apart, zooming in on the blinking red dot that was leading them in the right direction. He flung his arm forward, sending the projection onto the entirety of the car's front window. It was transparent enough that Natasha could still see the road and look at the map at the same time.

"It's the only lead we've got Cap," Natasha said in answer to Steve question. "Maybe he snuck back in. Maybe he's got a friend running things off scene. The possibilities are endless. We've got to scope it out."

He nodded. "How long?"

"Forty minutes," JARVIS answered.

He sighed. "I suppose we should keep the disguises on?"

"Well, if I know anything about hotels, then the people at the front desk won't let us in to see his room. We're going to have to sneak in. I'd keep parts of it on, just in case, but we can dress in our own clothes."

Steve nodded and removed his wig, running his fingers through his hair. Natasha threw her glasses into the glove compartment along with her contacts and Tony removed his bald cap, peeling it from his scalp rather disgustingly.

"So," he started, "what are we going to do for the next forty minutes?" When he received no answer, he continued on to break the silence.

"Can we at least listen to the radio? I have no idea what kind of music people play in Germany but it's gotta be better than this stupid silence." He cranked up the volume of a random station all the way to hotel, much to Steve and Natasha's chagrin.

* * *

Twenty-five minutes later (Natasha was speeding just to get that ANNOYING NOISE TONY CALLED MUSIC out of her head faster), the three of them parked the car around the block from the hotel. Steve and Tony stood guard outside while Natasha changed into more flexible clothes in the back of the car.

When she was ready, the three of them walked down the street with Tony pretending to be a busy business man talking on his phone and Steve and Natasha pretending to be a couple on a stroll. They made their way around the back of their designated building and hid in the bushes behind the parking lot.

Natasha held a pair of binoculars to her eyes and scoped out the place. "Two security cameras," she stated. "Think you can get Jarvis to scramble them?"

"I don't think, I know. Jarvis?" Tony spoke to the comm in his ear.

"Of course, Sir."

Natasha never took her eyes away from the cameras attached to the walls. They stopped moving. "Good. Which room is it?"

"The fifth room to the right on the seventh level," the AI answered her from her own comm.

She nodded and removed the binoculars from her face. "Okay, so here's the plan. We use the balconies of each suite as a makeshift ladder. Since Steve and I are the more agile ones, Tony will stay behind with the binoculars and keep watch for anyone opening their curtains or the doors to their balconies. I'll pick the lock on Austerlitz' door and we'll bust in with these guns," she took two out of her backpack and handed the bag to Tony. "If he runs, we shoot. We'll keep in contact through comms. Any questions?"

Tony raised his hand. "Why are you two automatically the agile ones? Just because I was wearing a suit, doesn't mean I wasn't moving just as much as you were."

"The suit was restricting. No complaints. Steve? We good?"

"Good to go." He removed the safety from his gun and clicked it.

She nodded at him. "And don't talk until we're absolutely sure we're alone and no one can hear us."

"Got it."

"Move out."

She and Steve hid their guns somewhere on their person before making a run for the parking lot. In their ears, they heard Tony's voice tell them that they were all clear. There were a few cars parked here and there but they were all vacant of people and any civilians weren't within view of the Avengers.

Natasha ran at the wall and jumped, using the bricks as leverage to push herself higher as she used her foot to step on it like a step ladder. She stretched midair and grabbed the metallic bar of the first balcony and quickly swung her feet in front her, making sure her torso never hit the railing. Her knees bent and absorbed her landing while doubling as a spring. Her body coiled and she let go of the bar as she back flipped upwards and spinning halfway through to grab the other bar to the balcony diagonally across from the one she had started from, landing in the same position. She continued with this until she reached the seventh floor.

Steve's approach was less graceful – he ran and jumped, grabbing a hold of the railing before pulling himself up. He swung his legs over onto the inside of the balcony before hopping onto the bar with both feet and leaping for the next one. He was about to jump for the fourth when Tony's voice in his ear startled him.

"Wait Cap stop!" he flailed and fell forward, flipping until he grabbed the cement that acted as the balcony floor of the one he had just fallen from. He was about to curse the roughness against his fingers when he heard a glass door slid open from above. It wasn't his balcony thank goodness but it came from the one he had been about to jump to. He adjusted his grip on the balcony uncomfortably, hanging there until further notice.

"She doesn't see you," Tony informed him. "She has a book. I think she's going to- yeah. She's sitting there and reading. She's not leaving any time soon."

"We need a distraction," Natasha whispered from her position on the last balcony.

"What am I supposed to do?" The billionaire asked.

"You're supposed to be the genius. Think of something!"

"Fine."

He rubbed his goatee in thought. "Hmm… oh, I got it!" He grabbed a rock from the ground, frowning at the dirt he got in his fingernails, before tossing it in the direction of the girl's left. It smacked the wall and she looked there for a few seconds before shrugging and returning to her book. He threw another one (which was very hard to do while lying in the bushes) and she looked again, but didn't move.

Steve shifted anxiously from his perch on the third balcony. He couldn't dangle there forever. Tony threw one last rock and finally, the girl closed her book and walked over to the other side of her balcony and leaned over it to get a closer look – the opposite way of Steve.

"Go Cap, go!"

Steve hefted himself up and over the railing before running and jumping onto the bar in order to launch himself onto the next balcony up, further away from the girl. He pulled himself onto it just as she returned to her book and patio chair.

Both men sighed in relief. It took Steve a little longer to reach Natasha, seeing as he had gone a little farther left than was necessary, but he did it. They both pressed their backs against the wall on either side of the screened door with their guns against their chests.

Steve nodded at her and she nodded back. She removed several bobby pins from under her wig and began to fold and bend them into a warped shape of black, twisted metal. She stuck it in the lock and turned, breaking it open easily.

Steve used his fingers to count down from three and she followed along. Three… two… one. She threw open the door and rolled inside, stopping in a kneel with her gun up as the Captain burst in after her, also holding his gun up.

"Freeze!" she called out. No answer. It was completely silent. Warily, Natasha pushed herself to her feet and looked around, waving her gun wherever she did. Steve did the same. A moment later, she reached into her utility belt and took out what appeared to be a large pill. She used her thumb to flip open the top and then tossed it onto the ground. There was a faint buzzing sound before the device began smoking.  
She sighed and squished it under her boot before picking up the remains. She walked out onto the balcony and let it blow into the wind.

"What was that?" Steve asked when she got back inside and shut the door behind her.

"A bug scrambler. It messes with any and all listening devices within a good distance."

"Ah." After a thorough search of the suite for any living being, he shouted, "All clear on this end!"

"All clear here too." They both lowered their fire arms but didn't put them away.

Steve whipped the curtains to the back door closed after saluting the bushes he knew Tony were hiding in. "Alright. Should we investigate?"

"Yes. Here." She tossed him a pair of black gloves and he caught them easily with his enhanced reflexes.

"Thanks."

Natasha started in the bedroom while Steve went straight for the bathroom. They left no stone unturned as they rummaged through all of his belongings and replaced everything back the way it was – no one would ever know they had been there. Steve felt inside toothpaste bottles and opened all drawers and in the tank of the toilet. Nothing.

When he returned to the living room, he jumped and held up his gun.

"Woah! Hey! Put that down! It's just me!"

Steve lowered his firearm. "Geez, Tony. A little warning would have been nice. I almost shot you."

"But you didn't because you would never shoot me."

"How did you even get in here?"

"Well it turns out Natashalie was wrong. The Front Desk let me right in when I said I wanted to visit a friend on the seventh floor."

"Stark," the woman greeted as she walked in from the bedroom, a scowl on her face. "You should have stayed outside. We need a lookout."

He waved her away nonchalantly. "Nah, we'll be fine."

"Stark…" she growled.

"It's too late now," Steve spoke up before this could get ugly. "Just keep searching."

So after giving Tony an extra pair of gloves, the three of them went through everything they could as fast as possible. Tony had gone through the bed (and under it) and under the carpet and now he was searching through the dresser drawers. They were all empty. He slammed the last one closed in frustration.

"Ugh! This is pointless! What were we even hoping to find? Fingerprints?"

"Just keep looking, Stark," Natasha ordered without even looking at him as she inspected the couch.

"For what?"

"Anything that could tell us anything about whether or not he's guilty," Steve answered from inside the closet he was searching through.  
Tony sighed. "This is hopeless!" He opened the drawer and slammed it closed again, just for the satisfaction of making a loud noise and using force to do it. "Wait," he opened the drawer again. Something blue had caught his eye but now he didn't see it. Confused, he yanked the entire drawer out of the dresser and, sure enough, spotted a pamphlet. "Well, well, well, what have we here?"

He picked it up and replaced the drawer before sitting on the bed. It was a pamphlet for the tourist attractions in Philadelphia. He frowned and opened it. He flipped the pages until he came across a list of hotels where one was circled in red pen: the same hotel Tania and Pepper had been staying in.

"Guys, I found something."

Almost immediately, both companions were looking over both of his shoulders at what he held in his hands. "Son of a gun," Steve breathed.

"This is definitely our guy," Tony stated angrily. He used his thumb to flip over the rest of the pages before he reached the end and looked at the back. A phone number was written in black sharpie. "Bingo." He passed the pamphlet to Natasha. "Would you like to do the honours?"

"My pleasure." She took the papers and walked over to the phone in the corner of the room by the flat screen TV. She dialed the number while Steve paced and Tony made himself comfortable on the bed, lying down with his hands behind his head and his feet crossed at the ankles.

The person picked up on the third ring. "Was möchten Sie tun?"

Her eyes widened. "He speaks German," she mouthed to the others.

Steve hurriedly grabbed the phone from her and held it to his ear. "Hallo?"

"Hat keine Fortschritte gemacht worden?"

"Ähm, das ... Ziel war nicht ... uh, getötet.," he spoke in broken up German. Tony and Natasha were gaping at him but he turned his back to them so that he wouldn't be distracted or embarrassed.

"Ich weiß das! Jetzt beweg deinen Arsch zum Assistenten morgen oder ich werde Sie und Ihre Familie für Ihre Inkompetenz zu töten!" The seemingly very angry man hung up the phone. Steve placed it back on its hook looking slightly dazed.

"Wow! Where did you-?" Tony started but was interrupted by Steve.

"You pick up a few things when stationed in Europe during the Second World War"

"Impressive. Even I don't speak German," Natasha complimented.

"Yes, well," he rubbed the back of his neck as a blush started creeping up his cheeks, "I don't speak much but I understand maybe seventy percent of what's being said?"

"Your pronunciation is almost perfect."

"Thanks. I just… I just imitated Dr. Abraham Erskine from… back in the forties."

"Ah…" Tony and Natasha chorused.

"So what did he say?" The assassin asked.

"He asked if any progress has been made. I told him that the target was still alive. He said that he knew that and then… well, he started speaking really fast and the only real word I caught was wizard."

"Wizard?" Tony repeated. "Are you sure you didn't mix something up?"

He nodded. "I'm positive. He said wizard somewhere in there. Sorry, my German is a little rusty."

"No, no. That's great!" Natasha stated, grabbing the pamphlet and shoving it in her pocket. "We've got more intel but I don't think it's safe to call that number anymore. Especially since none of us speak German. I'll ask Clint when we get back if he knows the language. I think he does."

"Good," Steve acknowledged.

An awkward silence followed which Tony just had to break.

"Now what?"


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N. Here am I again! Same day, different chapter. This one is kind of all over the place because I had messed it all up and then rearranged it, added and deleted certain parts, and then changed it some more and... yeah. Sorry. Hope you still enjoy :D Also, as for the German last chapter, I got it off of Google Translate so it's probably horrible and if you want the translations, you're not meant to know them which is why I didn't give them ;) And as for Clint's age and b-day in this chapter, Marvel Wikia said that Clint was born January 7th (which is ironically the same day as this chapter... mind blow!) in 1971. ... that would make him like 42. So I took the liberty of making his birthday September 15th and having him be 23. Hope you don't mind ;D**

CHAPTER XVI

Later that day, in Philadelphia, Pepper marched into the meeting room, clipboard in hand, ready to squash that Mr. Green under her gorgeous red heels. She was anxious to get back to the Tower. She had heard about the whole story from Bruce and Betty over the comms. She and Thor had of course wanted to come home immediately, but both of them knew that they couldn't leave when there was still work to be done.  
So on Monday the seventh of January, Pepper strode into the room with a purpose. She would be going home today. She would make sure of that. Stark was going to buy Arrow if it killed her.

Half an hour later, Stark Industries bought Arrow Incorporated. She shook hands with a frowning Mr. Green, feeling smug and accomplished, before rushing off to find Happy with Thor in tow. She bundled everyone onto the Stark jet and they were off to NYC again.

Another half our later and she was walking up to the Tower with Thor carrying four of her bags and Happy lugging behind her mini-suitcase. The chauffeur/bodyguard had been rather un-happy to have been replaced by a Thunder God and then being shown up by said Thunder God. But he kept his mouth shut, knowing that Thor and Tony (who'd sent the God) both meant well.

When the red head reached the doors and they did not open, she walked right into them. "Ow!" she cried out, holding her nose.

"Lady Pepper, are you alright?" Thor asked worriedly, stepping forward.

She turned around and waved him away. "I'm fine, I'm fine." She removed her hand and looked down at it. Blood. Great. "I've got a nose bleed. Figures." She turned back towards the doors. "Jarvis? Open up please."

"DNA scan required," the AI stated without even addressing her.

"DNA scan? What for? You know who I am and you know who they are." She gestured to Thor and Happy behind her.

"Please look into the provided retina scanning device to your right," the computer provided. Pepper warily allowed her eyes to be scanned. There was a little bit of beeping before JARVIS answered. "Thank you. Welcome home Ms. Potts. I hope your trip was enjoyable?"

"It was, thank you," she replied as she stepped into the lobby. "Where are all the workers?" she asked, noticing immediately that no one was milling about with paperwork or coffee. "And what's with the DNA scan all of a sudden? What happened?"

"Agent Barton has activated the Mandarin Protocol."

"Ohhhh… now I get it. Wait, WHAT?" She nearly jumped in shock. "He locked everyone out of the Tower except for the Avengers?"

"It would seem so."

"But that means that the workers are all at home and can't come into work until further notice!"

"That is correct."

"But we just had this huge business deal! We have to get started on it right away but how are we supposed to do that when we don't have a workspace?!"

"May I suggest asking Mr. Stark? He was the one who suggested it."

"Of course," she muttered under breath. "Alright. Well it seems the Stark employees are getting more than the day off I just gave them. More like a week. Where's Tania? May I see her?"

"She is in the range with Agent Barton , Doctor and Mrs. Banner, and Mr. Banks."

"The shooting range?"

"Is there another range in this Tower I am unaware of?" JARVIS answered sarcastically.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Thanks Jarvis." She turned around to face the two men still standing behind her with her stuff. "You guys can give those back now. I can take them to my room." She held her arms out for them.

"Nay, my Lady. I shall carry them to your chambers for you."

"Me too," Happy chorused.

Pepper smiled sweetly at them. "You guys are the best."

They beamed at her and they all packed into the elevator. Pepper got off on the floor with the shooting range after grabbing several tissues from the lobby to absorb the blood from her nose and the others continued up to her room to drop off her stuff. When she entered, she saw everyone in different rows, wearing goggles and headsets, aiming guns at the round targets roughly twenty fifteen meters away. Clint stood off to the side with his hands behind his back, rocking back and forth as he watched.

"Alright, now just relax your shoulders, open both eyes at the same time, if possible, try to keep your face neutral, and use only your finger to pull the trigger."

Four simultaneous shots went off in the room and Pepper instinctively covered her ears. Clint nodded approvingly. He walked up to the adjacent wall, looking at it thoughtfully for a few moments. He turned to face the others. "Nice shot Graham, I'm impressed. One ring off from dead center."

The younger Banks sibling grinned and blew the end of his gun. "Tons of practice with paintball and laser tag."

Clint walked over to the next range. "Not bad for your first try, Betty. Remember to keep your grip firm and to try not to let your hands jerk too much."

The brunette nodded in understanding and lifted her goggles upon her head so that she could rub her eyes tiredly

Clint eyed the next range warily. "Bruce… where's your bullet?"

The doctor rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Uh… in the floor." He pointed to a spot near the archer's feet. Clint stepped back to see the bullet lodged in the wooden plank.

"What happened?"

"I… I just… when I looked at the target I… saw a human being. I chickened out at the last second."

Clint nodded and hummed. "Understandable. We'll have to work on that." He made his way over to the last range. The bullet had hit the ring two away from the edge of the circle. "Well it's better than Bruce's."

"Shut up," Tania mumbled. Clint approached her while the others began to disassemble and reassemble their guns as Clint had taught them to do while Pepper watched on.

He smirked before he began signing. _Fine. No talking._

She rolled her eyes but put her gun on the table next to her to sign back._ I know. I'm bad._

_Not really. You've got potential. I can see it. Eyes like a Hawk, remember? All you need is a little practice. You caught on to Nat's combat training pretty quickly._

She sighed._ I guess._

_Come on. Let me see you line up your shot so I can figure out what's wrong._

She raised her gun, arms straight out in front of her. Immediately he saw the problem. "You're too tense. Relax your elbows and soften your eyes. Don't squeeze the gun too hard." He nudged her feet into the proper position. "Obviously in a real fight you won't have as much time to think about this kind of stuff and may not even be in a standing position, but this is just the basics. You remember the two things that stick up right? How you're supposed to aim and look through them."

"Yeah."

"Good. Now try again. Take a deep breath."

She obeyed and lined up her shot. She closed her left eye before he could stop her and pulled the trigger. They both looked at the target. The fifth ring from the center.

"Better," he complimented. "We'll work on it. We've got nothing better to do."

More gunshots sounded as the others fired off their second shots as well. Clint continued watching and criticising, teaching and improving. It had been his idea to teach Tania how to use a gun, seeing as how she didn't even know how to take the safety off yesterday. This evolved into Betty learning for self defense as well, which brought in Bruce and since Graham didn't want to be left out and you never know if someone might want to kidnap Captain America's girlfriend's brother, he had joined in as well.

When the second round of gunfire was over, Pepper removed her hands from her ears and looked up. She watched as the archer himself began to criticise each of their shots again.

When she spotted Tania, her fears bubbled down and she knew that the brunette was fine. As she walked over to her friend that she considered her sister, her three inch stilettos clicked and clacked against the hardwood floor. They ironically sounded like gunshots in the eerily silent room, catching everyone's attention.

"Pepper!" everyone exclaimed. They all removed their goggles and headsets before approaching her.

She was greeted with hugs from everyone and smiled warmly at them all. "Hey guys. Did you miss me?"

A cacophony of affirmative responses reached her ears and she laughed lightly. "How did the meeting go? Did we get it?" Tania asked immediately, eyes wide.

Pepper paused dramatically, her mouth open. Everyone leaned in closer. Just one more second… "Yes," she breathed. Cheers erupted in the room and she felt the exhaustion and stress from the past weekend lift from her shoulders. It had all been worth it. "So what are you guys up to?"

"Clint's teaching us how to shoot," Graham filled in.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," the archer reassured. "Grab some gear and a gun and choose a range."

Because Tania was on the end, Pepper chose the one next to her and began to take apart and put back together the gun as fast as she could. Tania watched with wide eyes as she managed to do it in ten seconds flat before lining up her shot. It took her less than ten seconds to pull the trigger. The bullet landed in the ring closest to the center.

Everyone gaped. She smirked at their shocked looks. "Dad and I used to go to the range all the time and just do this for hours," she explained. "It was one of our main ways of bonding."

"Nice," Clint complimented. They high-fived. "Alright everybody, let's do it again! From the top!"

* * *

After lunch, Pepper and Tania had opted to work together in the aquarium (for a change of scenery) on their respective portable electronic devices (laptops, blue tooth, phones, tablets, SMART boards, etc). They isolated themselves on that floor and brought two mugs of steaming hot beverages (Orange Pekoe tea for Pepper and black coffee for Tania) and settled in for basically the entire day. Four hours later and they were still there.

They spent their time doing as much work as they could since the other workers had basically been banned from their workspace. They also caught up and made sure the other was okay and that the meeting had gone well, etcetera, etcetera.

Meanwhile, Clint and Graham had been trying to get them to come out since they started, but they had both refused. Mutually deciding that it would be fun to prank them out of their work, the two of them began to formulate a plan.

Ten minutes later, they entered the aquarium, barely hiding the matching grins on their faces. Another five minutes later with no luck of finding them, Clint and Graham began to sign to each other (which had been discovered while formulating their plan).

_Do you think they would be able to hear us if we talked?_ Graham asked.

_Probably. But better safe than sorry._

_How do we find them? At this rate, it will take us forever!_

_Calm down Mr. Impatient. I've got an idea_. Clint ran and jumped, grabbing the top of the extremely tall fish tank with one hand. Holding in a grunt, he swung his other arm onto the ledge before pulling himself up onto the top. He lay on his stomach and scoped out the scene. He spotted the "Business Partners" lounging in a wide open space not too far from where Graham was standing, surrounded by notebooks, folders, calculators, scattered papers, and over half a dozen electronic devices.

He leaned over the edge so that the student could see his hands while he signed._ I see them! They're just around that corner._

Graham nodded and Clint hopped down soundlessly to join him. "There you guys are!" The former exclaimed. "Betty wants to talk to you guys in the lounge."

Clint nodded along. "Yeah, she said something about her honeymoon?"

Pepper and Tania shared a look before sighing and closing their laptops in perfect sync. When the two of them eventually made it the lounge, Clint and Graham opted to remain in the elevator to watch the show. The taller of the two switched on the fan as Pepper and Tania searched for Betty.

As the fan spun faster, it began raining goo. The two women squealed and dove for cover as the fan shot out globs of unidentified substances at them. Clint and Graham couldn't hold it in anymore – they laughed their butts off.

They were practically busting their guts, chortling while the two business women were seething and glaring at them. Pepper was mourning her hair that had been so nice just seconds before. She sniffed it. "Is this… sun tan lotion?"

Tania whirled on her brother. "GRAHAM BANKS!"

"You'll never catch me alive!" He jammed the button to close the doors just as Tania ran for him. He cackled when the elevator was shut and they had gotten away. He and Clint fist-pumped.

Most people tended to forget just how young Clint actually was. He was the same age as Graham: twenty-three. And yet, Graham was a University Student and Clint was master assassin turned SHIELD agent turned super hero. He'd seen and done a lot of things no one should have to do, but there was always that immature boy that had never gotten the chance to come out during his childhood lurking just under the surface.

"That was awesome!" He said.

"I know! But if I know my sister, then this isn't the end."

"What do you mean?"

"Dude, you don't know? We just started a prank war."

Sure enough, the girls were quick to retaliate. They quickly recruited both Betty and Bruce in an alliance (Happy had gone home) and used them to lour Clint, Thor (whom they had gotten to first), and Graham into rooms opposite each other before leaving them there. They quickly tied a rope between the two of them (some of the only rooms in the entire Tower with actual knobs) and snickered as they were loured out, only to play tug of war with each other when they couldn't open the door.

Okay, so maybe they were just super bored with work and were looking for a distraction and willing to sink to their level for some fun, but hey, it was a good distraction. Plus, Pepper's hair was ruined. That, of course, meant war.

They guys (minus Bruce) surprised them when they put on their shoes and found Lego blocks digging into their skin. It was totally on now. No one messed with Pepper's shoes.

When Clint, Thor, and Graham wanted to watch TV, the volume had been set to maximum and nearly broken their eardrums while the Business Partners high-fived from the aquarium while watching the surveillance feed via JARVIS.

The boys recovered fast and fought back with a kitchen fridge stocked full of exploding drinks. ALL of them. Even water. How they managed to do that, no one really knew.

The girls TP'd the guys' bedrooms.

The guys waxed the floor of the gym so much that they couldn't walk without slipping.

The girls threw the guys in an unknown floor of the Tower after setting up a fog machine so that they wouldn't know where they were or where they were going. And JARVIS wouldn't help because Ms. Potts was his "master" so to speak when Mr. Stark was not present.

Bruce and Betty eventually took to hiding in one of his labs and working on an experiment they had been wanting to test out for a while now.

This war continued on for about two hours before they got bored and called a truce for lunch. Of course, both teams realized that the pranks they were playing were extremely lame, but no one cared. It had been funny.

After the fruit salad Pepper made for them, they decided that they didn't want the war to continue and called it a draw before shaking hands.

"You are valiant opponents! I wish not to face your ranks should Lady Natasha wish to join you."

Pepper and Tania laughed. "No, I don't think this will happen again. At least, not for a little while. Maybe on April Fool's?" the red head suggested.

"It's a date," Clint confirmed.

"Awesome," Tania clapped her hands together once. "Now, this has been a blast and all, but I need to get back to work. I think I left my USB in the party deck. I'll meet you in the aquarium in five, kay Pepper?"

"Sure thing."

So Tania said good-bye to her friends and made Graham swear not to pull any more pranks until April and walked over to the elevator. She stood inside, waiting patiently for her to rise and tapped her foot to the beat of the horrible elevator music.

When the doors opened she stepped into the huge, open-ended room. She immediately spotted her USB stick on the counter all by itself and marched over to it. She grabbed it and smiled triumphantly.

Sunlight suddenly illuminated the room as the bright golden star came out from behind a cloud, catching Tania's attention. She squinted and walked over to the floor to ceiling windows to look out over NYC. Her breathing sped up as she looked down at all of the cars and people that looked like ants down below. It was a long way down…

Something clunked against the glass in front of her face and she jumped. What was that? She inspected the window but there wasn't anything there, not even a scratch. Another thing thwacked it, and this time Tania saw enough to know that it was small and black. Was that…? It couldn't be… could it?

Suddenly, several different black things pounded against the glass in front of her and she stepped back, heart pounding as pellets bounced off the window harmlessly. "Jarvis?" she asked, not taking her eyes off of the projectiles.

"Yes, Miss Banks?"

"What are those?" She pointed towards what looked like rocks still hitting her window at crazed speeds.

"I believe those are bullets."

She gasped. "Bullets?"

"Yes, but there is no need to worry. Since the Mandarin Protocol has been initiated, all windows have been reinforced with extra layers of bullet-proof glass. There is a zero percent change of anything penetrating it."

"I… umm… Thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome."

"Jarvis, could you please tell the others about this and to meet me in the aquarium? That room has no windows, right?"

"That is correct, and I shall do so promptly."

"Thank you," Tania breathed just as the bullets stopped firing. She gulped, heart racing. Her eyes roamed the tops of buildings and windows but she couldn't see the shooter. Finally, she gave up and ran for the elevator.

When she arrived in the aquarium, everyone was already there. "What are we going to do?" she asked as she entered the little circle they'd formed.

"Did you see the shooter?" Clint wondered.

She shook her head. "No. I tried but, I just couldn't find him."

"Then he's most likely long gone by now. There isn't really anything we can do."

"Does this count as another attempt on her life, because if it does, I think Tania should stay away from windows all together. In fact, maybe she should just be locked on her floor."

"Graham!" Tania exclaimed.

"That's probably the best course of action," Clint agreed.

"Clint!"

"We can give her DUMMY for company."

"Ooh, good idea."

"Um, hello!" Pepper interrupted. "I think Tania should be able to walk freely about the Tower. Nothing can break the glass of this tower when it's on lock down. She's perfectly safe wherever she is."

"Precaution is necessary in these types of situations," Clint told her.

"I kind of agree with him," Bruce said meekly.

"Well I agree with Pepper," Betty stated, walking across the circle to stand next to the girls.

"As do I," Tania confessed.

"I am afraid I am with Friends Clint, Graham, and Bruce. I am sorry." Thor crossed his arms, determined.

"It's four against three. We win! Ha!"

"Graham, this is not a democracy, it's my life!"

"Yeah, well too bad! We won!"

"How exactly did you win? It's not like you can make me stay in my room until further notice!"

* * *

"Damn. I can't believe he locked me in my room until further notice," she muttered from her perch on her and Steve's bed. "At least I have the whole floor, though." She turned to DUMMY, who was rocking back and forth uncomfortably, having nothing to do. "I don't know why they gave me you, though when there are several perfectly good humans (and a God) that make good company. No offense to you, DUMMY, I just don't understand the way their minds work."

She patted his head affectionately and the little robot vibrated and hummed in response. She chuckled. "Well, if I'm going to be stuck here for who knows how long without my work, I suppose I'll just have to go to the studio and draw. Wanna come with?"

DUMMY nodded excitedly and she smiled at him before leading him to her gallery. She picked up her sketchpad and pencils as well as her charcoal and erasers before she started drawing.

What started out as a dream catcher eventually turned into a spider web behind which were two, ominous looking eyes. She nearly dropped the pad when she realized what she had created and inhaled a sharp intake of breath. She quickly flipped the page and began to start anew when JARVIS' voice cut through her mind like a knife to butter.

"Miss Banks?" she jumped, knocking the pad to the floor which DUMMY hurriedly picked up for her and handed to her. She sent him a warm smile and took it.

"Yes, Jarvis?"

"I figured that you would like to know that a woman who claims to be one Felicity Deed is at the doorstep."

"… did you just say Felicity Deed?"

"Yes, I did."

"Oh my God, Jarvis, let me down!" She shot up from her spot on the bench and ran for the door. She burst into the hallway and bolted for the elevator.

"I do not have authorization to-"

"DO IT JARVIS! This is my floor and I'm overriding Pepper's direct order!"

"But-"

"JARVIS!"

She could almost hear him sigh as the elevator doors opened for her. "As you wish."

"Thank you. DUMMY, stay here," she commanded before she was headed down to the lobby. "Has she rung the doorbell yet?"

"Yes, and Ms. Potts is on her way to answering the door."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no ,no, no, no!" The doors had just barely begun to open when she launched herself forward into the lobby. She stopped just shy of bumping into Pepper and stared incredulously at the woman in front of the doors. "Mom?"

**A/N. Duh Duh DUHNNNNNNNNN!**


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N. Hi guys! Didn't keep you waiting too long did I? Thanks to all those who reviewed last night, made my entire day :D :D :D. So now we all get to meet Tania's mom! I hope you hate her, because that was what I was trying to get across throughout this chapter. Enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER XVII

"Hello Dearie, come give me hug," Felicity greeted, stretching her arms out wide with a fake grin that looked like it had been plastered there with surgery.

Tania blinked before leaning towards Pepper. "What is she doing here?" she hissed angrily.

Pepper stuttered visibly. "I, um… It was… supposed to be a birthday surprise. From Tony." She's early...

"Happy Birthday," Felicity said and walked forward to hug her daughter who just kind of stood there with a disgusted face.

"My birthday isn't for at least a week," she deadpanned,

"Oh," she pulled away. "The fourteenth, right?"

"The sixteenth," Graham stated as he entered from the elevator with a horrible grimace on his face.

"GG!" The grimace deepened when she hugged him awkwardly. It was obvious the woman didn't do this very often. "So, where's my room?"

"Your what?!" Tania exclaimed.

"Uh, yeah…" Pepper started, "Tony kind of… well he invited her to stay for the week."

"WHAT?" The siblings chorused together. Neither of them had ever spoken much about their past, except maybe to Steve via Tania. So Tony had no knowledge of the giant rift in their "family" or what had caused it. This was just great… not.

"Is someone going to answer my question or what?" Felicity asked, cocking her hip to one side and raising an eyebrow.

This woman was definitely their mother. She had a light shade of brown hair that matched Graham's and was cut in a bob just above her shoulders with long dangly earrings and huge sunglasses. When she removed them, she had chestnut brown eyes the same colour as Tania's and certain aspects of her face held similiarities to her children. She stood at about five foot six and wore a big floppy hat and matching pink scarf with purple and white clothes that made her look like she was trying too hard to look like she was young again.

"Or what," Graham answered her.

"Mom,-"

"Don't call me that. You know I don't like it."

Tania ground her teeth together. "Felicity, this is MY home and I don't want you here."

If Pepper was at all shocked how blunt the "kids" were being to the woman that gave birth to them, she didn't show it.

"None the less, I'm staying. Anthony was kind enough to invite me and I was kind enough to accept it." As she said this, she began unwrapping her scarf from around her neck before tossing it into Tania's face like she was a coat rack or a shelf of some kind. "What a… large place you have here…"

"Felicity," Graham called through his teeth, "this is OUR home and we BOTH want you gone. For life."

"Well you don't own this home and therefore can't kick me out of it."

Brother and sister turned to the CEO who shared the Tower with Tony. "Pepperrrrr!" They whined.

"Oh Ms. Potts, you wouldn't kick a lady out of your own home when she has nowhere else to go? Out on the streets with the hobos, and the muggers, and the press…?" Felicity drawled, circling Pepper like an animal to its prey.

"Well…um, I…" How could she kick the lady out? She was practically threatening to go to the press and tell them mean lies about SI and the Avengers! Even though she seemed like a pretty nasty woman, Pepper knew enough to know that she had been MIA for the past several years and it was entirely possible that she was homeless despite her attire.

"Then it's settled!" She finished for the redhead. "Show me to my room. My flight was exhausting." She yawned over dramatically.

"Jarvis," Pepper called with narrowed eyes at the Tower's newest 'guest'.

"Yes Ms. Potts?"

Felicity jumped. "What was that?"

"You'll figure it out," the red head reassured while gently (not really) ushering her and her suitcase into the elevator. "Jarvis will show you to your room on the twenty-first floor."

"But my luggage-!"

"I'll see you later!" She spoke over the woman before the doors closed. She turned around to face the two very angry siblings and laughed sheepishly. "So… who wants a drink?"

* * *

"And then we all go to the lounge and there she is! Raiding Tony's alcohol collection like she owns the place! And then she says, 'oh I'm sorry, did you want some?' like she was going to drink all of it and like it belonged to her! UGH! That woman just drives me insane!" Tania cried out, spinning around in her office chair in frustration.

"Well-"

"And then there's Tony! I mean, I know I didn't tell him the gory details of my past, but he should know by now that Graham and I happen to dislike our parents! I mean, come on! They divorced and then left us like we were month old spoiled milk! Who does that? How could Tony invite that bitch here? And for my birthday which she doesn't even remember! GAH!" She banged her forehead on her desk.

"Darling, I'm sure Tony meant well," Steve told her from his holographic screen projected over her desk. "He's in the cockpit with Natasha right now to give us some privacy but I know that if he heard this he would send her away without a second thought."

"But then, get this, she threatened to go to the press and tell lies about us! And with stocks already plummeting because of the whole 'Mandarin' thing, SI can't take much more beating! Sure, we just bought Arrow Incorporated but until the Tower comes out of lock down, we can't work on it!

"Speaking of lock down, I can't believe Pepper just let her in! She's never seen the woman before and yet because she says she's my mother she lets her in! WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?"

"Tania, I'm sure both Pepper and Tony mean well and had Jarvis use facial recognition to make sure that this Felicity person was who she said she was."

"Ugh, I don't need THIS on top of everything else going on in my life right now. Why would she even bother showing up? It's not like she cares about me or my brother. She's completely self-centered and acts like a spoiled brat but unlike our own lovable billionaire, she has NO redeeming qualities whatsoever!"

"I'm sure she must have something…"

"No, Steve, you don't get it! I know you like to look for the best in people but she is just… she's a horrible person and now she's staying in the Tower for a whole week! And why?"

"Well if she's as horrible as you say she is, then it's probably because her children live in the safest, biggest, and most expensive place in almost the whole world. She probably just wants in on the action."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Knock knock!" A voice from behind her office door sing songed.

Tania groaned.

"Who is it?" Steve asked.

"It's my mother."

At that moment, Felicity entered the room without permission carrying a bottle of wine with a goofy grin on her face. Yup. Already drunk. "Hey there, Tan. Who's this handsome fella?"

"Steve Rogers, ma'am." He dipped his head at her politely.

"Pleasure to meet you Captain America."

He frowned a little, barely noticeable on the screen. "Likewise Mrs. Banks."

"Don't call me that!" she snapped, waving her bottle around and sloshing some onto Tania's lap. "My name is Felicity Deed. I dumped that asshat years ago."

"Well, Ms. Deed-"

"MISS Deed!" she corrected as if she was some young girl being mistaken for a fifty year old woman.

Steve cleared his throat, wanting to make a good impression despite everything Tania had said. This had come up totally unexpectedly and he was not prepared for it in any way. His palms were getting kind of sweaty and he rubbed them on his pants nervously. "Miss Deed, it is an honour…" okay, he's gotta be honest, otherwise he wouldn't be Captain America, "it is an honour to be able to know your daughter-"

"How charming," she interrupted rudely before taking another gulp of alcohol. She turned to Tania. "Is he rich?"

"MOM!"

"Tania Banks, you are too old to be calling me 'mom'."

She clenched her hands into fists as she tried desperately to get the wine out of her skirt. "Felicity, go away."

"Answer my question."

"Yes ma'am, I… well, I have money," Steve responded instead, running a hand through his hair anxiously.

"Hm. A ninety-something year old rich guy in spandex. Didn't think you had it in you Dearie."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Whatever. Either way I approve."

"Of what? Steve?"

"What else? Although Anthony would prove to be much richer, I suppose the Captain is sexier. Good choice."

Steve began blushing profusely from head to toe. "Uh, ma'am,"

"Oh shut up, I'm talking to my daughter."

Tania slammed her palms against the desk and shoved her chair back as she stood to her full height, exactly one inch taller than her mother. "Don't talk to him that way! And I will never be your daughter! You may have given birth to me, but my mother figure has and always will be Aunt Gemma!"

"Oh Gemmy! How is the old bird?"

Tania ground her teeth again, absolutely seething. "She's dead."

"Oh. Well I guess she had it coming. The stress of raising the two of you must have finally gotten to her. Good thing I got out of there early."

Tania was practically shaking. "Jarvis, initiate the Justin Hammer protocol. Otherwise known as the protocol of the UNWANTED GUEST," she said, leaning over her mother who took a step back.

"With pleasure," the AI responded,

The floor beneath Felicity's feet pulled away and she screamed as she fell down the trap door before it closed again. Tania smirked widely.

"Thank you Jarvis."

"Happy to help, Miss Banks."

Steve was gaping at her. "Did you just-?"

"Yeah I did." She plopped down in her office chair. "I've always wanted to do that."

"Get rid of your mother or the trap door thing Tony installed not too long ago?"

She looked him straight in the eye. "Yes."

He stared for a few moments longer, not getting it, before realization dawned on him and he burst out laughing. He coughed. "You still shouldn't have done that."

She grinned and crossed her legs. "I know."

He rolled his eyes. "Where did you send her?"

"The laundry room."

"Did Tony ever clean that place up?"

"Nope," she answered, popping the "P".

"You are very devious."

"That's what Howard said." He laughed lightly along with her. "So when are you coming home? I could really use your support here."

"We're on the jet back home now but we hit some… er, problems somewhere over Europe. Turns out we forgot to cloak the jet and so the military started trying to shoot us down. Took us a while to shake them off and finally get the invisibility working, but we're going to be home late. I'd say probably sometime in the middle of the night?"

She sighed. "Alright. I just miss you is all. First there was the trip to Philadelphia, and then there was you going off to Europe…"

"I know Darling, I know. I miss you too."

"So how did Germany go?"

He pursed his lips. "Well, it's definitely Austerlitz. Too bad he wasn't there."

"So he's… still here?"

"Presumably. Unless he was one of the many that Clint killed."

"It wasn't. All the bodies were found by civilians and identified. It's all over the news. The press have been trying to break into the Tower and get an interview for days."

"Okay then. Yes, Austerlitz is most likely still in New York. We scoped out his hotel room he was using as a cover to lie to his wife and kids and found this." He brandished the pamphlet and Tania gasped. He opened it to the page with the circled hotel. "So yeah," he continued, lowering the clue, "it's him. There was a phone number on the back that we called and managed to get some sort of code word I assume."

"What is it?"

"Wizard."

"Wizard?"

"Wizard."

"Hmm…"

"Any ideas?"

"Not one. Sorry."

"It's fine. We just don't know either. Tony is probably breaking his brain trying to figure it out and Natasha is trying to get him to stop thinking out loud."

Tania laughed. "That sounds like you guys. Are you still sane after a weekend with them?"

He chuckled back. "Yeah, I am. I have another several hours before we land though so we'll see how that turns out."

"Alright. Steve, I have to go. It's time for dinner. Pepper's making beef and mashed potatoes."

He groaned. "Don't tease me."

She laughed. "I'd tell you that we'd save you some, but with Thor, Clint AND Graham I doubt there'll be much for the rest of us."

His stomach rumbled loudly enough that she could hear it from her office and she laughed. "Sorry sweetie. But I seriously gotta go. Love you!"

"Love you more."

"No, I do." She shut off the connection and chuckled. "I win," she whispered to herself. She sighed. She really did miss him. It felt weird walking around the Tower without him in it and sleeping in a cold bed too big to be just for her.

Tony and Natasha's presences hadn't been lost on her either. The ex-playboy's charisma and charm as well as dick attitude was something she had grown accustomed to and it felt odd to say the least when it suddenly stopped.

And then there was Natasha, who was always with Clint but since she was gone, the archer was left to his own devices which hardly ever happened. However, this allowed for more bonding time with both him and Pepper, who wasn't always babysitting her boyfriend. It wasn't just that why she noticed Natasha's lack of appearance, it was also in that her training had been put on hold. Normally she would wake up at six every morning to get in an hour of learning hand-to-hand combat before work and they would speak civilly and sometimes share little secrets here and there. The two of them had gotten infinitely closer since the mission she and Steve had been on for a week. They were almost totally comfortable around one another, just like everyone else.

Tania pondered these thoughts as she made her way to the dining room where everyone was waiting for her – including Felicity. She scowled but didn't say anything as she took the seat between her brother and Bruce.

The doctor leaned over to whisper in her ear. "She's been driving us crazy ever since you dropped her in the chore room. She's been whining and compaining about how she had to change clothes tie up her hair and how the air tastes like soap."

She sent him an apologetic look. "Sorry, but she was grating on my last nerve. I had to do it!"

He shook his head. "I get it but I just thought I'd let you know."

She raised in eyebrow in his direction before Pepper, Clint, and Betty began handing out platters of delicious food. During the meal, Felicity talked non-stop about herself and her journeys of exploring the Himalayas (illegally) and how she didn't miss having kids at all. She chewed with her mouth open and spoke with her mouth full and her knife squeaked against the plate when she cut her beef and she didn't even try to stop it.

Tania felt like she was in a horror movie. To her left, Graham appeared to be having the same feeling. Pepper and Betty were always trying to steer the conversation away from Felicity politely but that woman was persistent and just kept returning to the same topic over and over and over again… herself.

After dinner, everyone held it together long enough to have dessert. As it turns out, Betty loved to bake. She had made a wonderful New York Cheesecake to celebrate her permanent stay in NYC at the Tower. She had been halfway through thanking the others for allowing her to move in when Felicity simply grabbed a fork and dug straight into the cake.

"Eh, I've had better."

Bruce practically had to hold back his wife from snapping and ripping the woman's head clean off her shoulders. Not that anyone would mind. It was morals more than anything.

Once everyone had a piece of the exceedingly large cake (there were what, eleven people total who should get a piece? Not to mention some of them were bound to want seconds), Tania excused herself to her room and told everyone not to come in.

It seemed everyone had forgotten about the whole, "Locked in her room until further notice" thing because no one brought it up. Or maybe it was because now that she was out, everyone knew that she could override JARVIS and get out whenever she pleased. Either way, she was happy they hadn't decided to lock her in again. Although with her mother here, she might just have to lock herself in anyway.

She bid everyone goodnight and used the elevator to get to her room, where she quickly changed into her PJs and going through her nightly routine. Afterward, she looked at her bed solemnly. It looked rather big without Steve in it. Even though she knew that she would wake up to his handsome face, she still missed him like crazy.

She decided to do something she knew Pepper sometimes did and probably a lot of other couples: she went to look for one of Steve's shirts to wear. Apparently they had some sort of "boyfriend scent" on them. Who had ever heard of that? So Tania walked over to Steve's dresser and began rummaging through it. She hadn't opened it since she put the clothes there in the first place months ago in probably late September.

The first drawer she opened was his socks and underwear drawer, which she quickly closed and looked in the next one. "Aha," she said as she removed the top T-shirt in the pile. She wondered if the scent thing actually existed… She sniffed it, glad no one was around to see. Nope. All she smelled was fabric softener. Hm. Maybe he had to wear the shirt first and then it would be covered in his scent? Either way she was going to put it on. She went to close the draw when something stopped her in her tracks.

She a little piece of navy velvet sticking out in a lump from under the second pile of T-shirts to the right of the drawer. Curious as to why Steve even had velvet in his collection of clothes, she lifted the shirts to see the article of clothing – but it wasn't clothing. She gasped and dropped the T-shirt she had been holding to the floor.

It was a jewellery box. For an engagement ring. Holy hell.

**A/N. Duh Duh Duhnnnnnnnnnn... again. Don't hate me for the cliff hangers! It's just something I tend to do.**


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N. Hiya :) I couldn't leave you guys with a cliff-hanger like, so here's a short chapter to make up for it where there is no cliff-hanger at the end. Also, it turns out i made a mistake. Graham is actually 22 not 23. Clint and Steve are both 23 though and Tania is turning 25 on the 16th of January. I'll go back and fix the ages later but I just thought I'd let you know in here. Enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER XVIII

Tania stared at the little velvet box in Steve's T-shirt drawer for what felt like hours. She was boring holes into it with her mind as if using x-ray vision to see what was inside. She had the immediate urge to take and open it but she refused. If Steve was going to propose, she needed to be surprised. Or at least, act like it.

But… marriage? Tania slowly closed the drawer, eyeing the velvet until the very last second and then it was gone. She took a deep breath which quickly escalated to hyperventilating. MARRIAGE? Was she ready for such a big step? They'd only been dating for a six months! (Okay, nine if you counted the three they spend in the forties). How long had he had this ring? When did he plan on doing it-? Oh. Wow. Her birthday. Or their anniversary. But most likely her birthday. That was… that was soon.

She found herself lowering until she sat on the bed, staring blankly into space as the mattress dipped under her weight. "Oh my God…" she whispered. Steve was going to PROPOSE. As in, "will you marry me?" This was HUGE. It was the biggest commitment she'd ever have in her life. What if she messed it up? What if something went wrong? What would the paparazzi think? Okay scratch that last one. No one cares.

But MARRIAGE? What… this was just… so sudden! He was going to pop the question in nine days! Holy… She fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling blankly. "Wife," she tried the word out on her tongue. Of course she'd said the word before, but it sounded different when she applied the term to herself. "Husband," she tried next. It was so foreign. To call Steve her husband… woah. She suddenly felt really old.

Gosh… marriage. What? She was… she was… getting married. That was if she said yes. _Will I say yes? Oh don't be ridiculous, of course I will. I love him. We should get married. Wait, how does that work? What if I'm not ready? What if we're going at this too fast? What if the wedding goes horribly wrong? What if… I'm not ready? Didn't I say that already? Whatever. Am I ready for this? It's a huge commitment. Not that I'm not committed to Steve one hundred percent, I just… it's so final. So formal. It will be legal. People will be calling us husband and wife. Life partners. And what comes after marriage? KIDS._

_Oh my God I can't even think about that right now. Let's just focus on the wedding thing. Wait, no. Before the wedding comes the proposal. Right. Let's focus on that. I'm going to say yes right? … right?_

She found herself completely, internally conflicted. She loved Steve with all her heart but she wasn't sure she was ready for marriage. After practically organizing the entire Banner wedding, Tania had a pretty good idea of how they worked. Now they were bonded together by something almost tangible: rings and a signed piece of paper.

Could Tania totally give herself to Steve? Of course. Did she want to get married yet? … Now that's the million dollar question. There were quite a few things she wanted to do before getting married, like travel, explore, learn, be free while she still could. But couldn't she do all that stuff after marriage?

_But it wouldn't be the same. How? I have no idea. I just_… "I'm not ready…" she breathed. Oh dear Lord, she was going to break Steve's heart. "No, no! I can fix this," she said aloud, rolling over onto her stomach before lowering her legs to the ground and standing up. She quickly replaced the T-shirt into his drawer on top of the ring that was taunting her to look and quickly slammed it shut.

"Jarvis, lights please."

The room was dimmed until it was pitch black as she hopped into bed and curled up under the sheets._ Just because I'm not ready, doesn't mean we have to get married right after getting engaged. That's still a long way's away. Planning a wedding takes months, sometimes years. So… I can accept his proposal. Yeah, I can do that. I just… want to postpone the wedding a little longer. Yeah. That works._

She closed her eyes.

* * *

Sometime later, Tania groaned and shifted in the bed, waking from her slumber. "Sorry, did I wake you?" a voice whispered in her ear.

Her eyes snapped open and struggled to adjust to the lack of light. "Steve?" He grinned from his position next to her on the bed. "Steve!" She rolled over towards him and pressed her lips to his.

He chuckled and pulled away only slightly. "Miss me?"

"Always." She attacked his mouth again. Oh it felt so good. She hadn't realized how much she missed every single aspect of him, how she cherished all of it, until her skin sizzled where his bare hands brushed against her and how the embers flashed behind her eyelids and burned in her core. Her toes curled and she craved the heat and the warmth he radiated.

Her tongue shot into his mouth and he was already reciprocating, as if anticipating her actions. His hands snaked around her waist and pulled her closer, bringing her flush against his chest as her fingers tangled in his hair.

With a gasp, she pulled back and remembered the ring. Steve began kissing her neck and throat down her collarbone and lower. She moaned. "Mmmm… Steve…" He didn't stop. "I- we…" she wanted to talk about it. At least know what his thoughts were on it, maybe get a few hints as to how he was going to propose. But his hands weaving under clothes had her arching and breathless and she couldn't continue.

"Talk later," he mumbled before her shirt came off. He threw it behind him and kissed her passionately again. "Missed you too much," he grumbled breathily into her mouth.

She hummed in response and removed Steve's shirt from over his head, where he tossed it to the side. "Whatever you say, Captain."

That sealed the deal.

* * *

Tania awoke sans nightmares or dreams at all and yawned. The first thing she became aware of was Steve's arm locked protectively around her waist, held tightly as if he was loath to let her go. She hummed and snuggled deeper into his chest. It was extremely pleasurable and special and she just wanted to live in this moment forever. It was just too perfect in her now extremely hectic life.

As if sensing that she was awake, Steve fluttered his eyes and shifted, removing his arm to stretch before replacing it back the way it was. She chuckled and rolled over so that she faced him. "Good morning Dear."

"Good morning Darling."

"How was the flight?"

"Tony wouldn't shut up for the entire eight hours and then some. It was also extremely boring."

"I can imagine that."

"But from what I've heard, it doesn't seem to be too boring here."

"That's one way to put it."

He smiled at her, gently stroking his thumb back and forth over her hip bone. "Shall we go have breakfast?"

Her stomach grumbled and he laughed at the timing. She laughed along with him. "You said it."

As they got dressed on opposite sides of the room, Tania couldn't help but be acutely aware of every time Steve opened a drawer. Her heart was speed up and she would start blushing. She had to calm that down if this proposal was going to be a surprise.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump. "Ready?" Steve asked.

She nodded and hastily buttoned up her pink blouse. "Yeah, of course, why wouldn't I be?"_ He was talking about the clothes, not the marriage you MORON!_ She chastised herself.

He raised an eyebrow but didn't question it as they headed for the dining room. It was an entirely new room separate from the eating space they used to always have breakfast in. Tony and Pepper had arranged because with Betty and Graham moving in, they didn't have enough room at their table for eight. So they bought a huge circle table and placed it in the new dining room. It was mahogany and polished perfectly, surrounded by a dozen black leather chairs. Hanging from the extremely high ceiling was an extremely large and overly intricate chandelier that Pepper had fallen in love with despite Tony's protests about how ugly it was.

When Stania reached the dining room, they were shocked to find that the only person there was Felicity. She sat with her back to them, her legs kicked up onto the table and crossed at the ankles with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a cell phone pressed to her ear in the other. Her talking was loud and obnoxious and her laugh was even worse.

Tania turned to Steve and mouthed, "Coffee shop?"

He nodded and mouthed back, "Coffee shop."

* * *

After their little breakfast date, Tania sought out Pepper who was hiding in her office. She knocked on the glass wall and the red head looked up. She smiled at her before holding up a finger to tell her to wait for a moment while she finished something. Tania nodded and waited, shifting from foot to foot anxiously.

She needed to tell someone about the ring. It was driving her INSANE not being able to mention. Pepper was the perfect person to confide in. They were like sisters. Who better to tell secrets to?

After Pepper hung up her phone call on her blue tooth (probably to Mr. Green of Arrow Incorporated), she waved the brunette inside. Tania obeyed and entered the office once the door lifted automatically and sat down in the chair opposite her boss across the desk.

"What can I do for you?" the CEO asked.

"Well," Tania began twisting her ring around her finger multiple times, as she tended to do when she was nervous. "Um, you see… last night, I was missing Steve. Like, a lot. And… um… I went through his dresser to see if I could find his T-shirt to wear like you do and… well… I found a ring."

Pause. Pepper gasped. "An engagement ring?!"

"Well, it was technically a box that I found but it was definitely a jewellery box. It was the exact size to carry a ring."

"Oh my Gosh, that's amazing news! Does Steve know you found it?"

She shook her head. "No, he doesn't know. I'm assuming he's going to propose on my birthday."

"Wow, you lucky girl!"

"Thing is, I… I don't want to get married just yet."

"Really?"

"Really. I don't think I'm ready. I haven't even thought about marriage yet and we've only really been dating not even six months! Don't you think we might be rushing things?"

"Hm, well, maybe a little bit. But I'm sure Steve would understand if you told him that you just aren't ready yet. Just don't forget to add that you want to someday. You do want to get married someday… right?"

Tania nodded her head vigorously. "Of course! I've always wanted my dream wedding. I just didn't think it would happen so soon…"

"So you're going to reject his proposal?"

"No. I'm going to accept it I'm just… not going to get married for a while."

"But what if Steve wants to get married soon? You have to take into account what he wants too."

"You're right, as usual. But how is there a compromise for this?"

"Well, when do you think you'll be ready?"

"I don't know? After at least a year of dating? I'd say that's pretty reasonable."

Pepper nodded her head and hummed. "Okay. So pick a date and see if he's okay with that. Try and find some middle ground."

"Alright, I… I can do that."

"Good. I can't believe you're getting married!"

"Pepper…" Tania said exasperatedly.

"Well it's true! I mean, first Bruce and Betty who proposed on the spot. And now you and Steve, who've been dating for six months! I feel like the shortest relationships are the ones to get married first nowadays. Well doesn't that make me feel a little old."

"Well you are forty."

"Shut up," Pepper mumbled through her giggles.

"I'm just saying," Tania teased while shrugging her shoulders. "I know Tony will propose one day though. I just know it."

"Thanks, but I'm getting kind of impatient."

"Don't worry. I'm sure it'll be soon."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. I mean, first Bruce and Betty, then Steve and I, you two are surely next since Clint and Natasha said that they don't think marriage would work in their line of… well, work. And Jane and Thor are taking things super slow and Graham is single right now."

A smile started to form on Pepper's face. "I did catch the bouquet at the wedding last week."

"See! There you go. You're the next one to get married, even if I'm going to be the next one getting proposed to."

"I guess you're right. But I thought you didn't believe in that kind of luck?"

"I don't. But you never know right? Gotta put in all the variables."

"Well alright, if you say so. Remember to try to let Steve down easy."

"Oh, I won't forget."

"Good. Now, would you mind helping me sort these files?" Pepper pressed her palm to her white desk and lifted it, conjuring a holographic image of her desktop screen. "All these documents need to be categorized into the proper departments and merged the matching ones of Arrow's."

"No problem," Tania reassured before smiling and scooting closer to her friend's desk. "Where do I start?"


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N. Wow. 3 updates in one day. I'm on FIRE! Ahem, anyway. Here's some fluff and bonding and a lot of girly mushiness before things get ugly. The calm before the storm, if you will. I figured that since Betty is still rather new to the Tower and has been spending most of her time with Bruce, she and Tania haven't had time to actually bond that hasn't been planning the wedding. So I gave them a girls night :D Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

CHAPTER XIX

Later that evening, as the Avengers all hid in the gym to avoid (hide from) Felicity, they decided to have one big workout session. Natasha and Clint teamed up to continue training Tania in hand to hand combat while Pepper and Betty joined in like a class. Steve and Thor were taking turns working the punching bag, being the only ones who could hold each other's still long enough not to break it right away. Tony and Bruce were in the ring, but they weren't doing much wrestling. Tony was more trash talking his Science Bro while the doctor kept trying to convince his friend that this was a bad idea. Graham was lifting weights in the corner and watching the ring with amusement written all over his face.

After about an hour of this, they all decided to switch stations after a fifteen minute break. During this break, something occurred to Pepper. "Oh! Tony!" she turned to her boyfriend who was chugging a water bottle (turns out he actually got Bruce to spar – and without Hulking out too). "You promised me a date, remember?"

"I did?" he asked, wiping his mouth of the excess water from his mouth.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, you did. And I know where I want to go."

"You do?"

She slapped his arm lightly. "Just let me finish. I want to go see a musical."

"A musical?" Tony asked astonished. "I didn't think that was your thing."

She shrugged. "It's not. But it's the Wizard of Oz and it promises to be really good. It's premiering tomorrow night."

"Did you just say Wizard?" Natasha asked, suddenly extremely serious.

"Yeah, it's the musical production of the Wizard of Oz. I don't suppose you'd be interested?"

"No, but I think I know someone who might." She stood up.

"Austerlitz," Steve filled in. "Of course. And the theatre's not too far from the Tower. It's perfect." He stood up as well.

"Wait, what? I'm lost. Someone fix it."

"Tony, remember the German word I caught on the phone? The word was Wizard. What other context could it be used in? They're going to make their move tonight."

"We think," Natasha corrected. "We should go and investigate. But we can't all go. I'd say six of us, absolute maximum."

"I'm going," Clint stated immediately.

"So am I," Natasha volunteered.

"We were going to go there anyway, right Tony?"

He sighed. "Right. Fine. I'll go."

"I'm coming too," the Captain declared.

"Steve," Natasha started, "Don't overreact, but I think we need to bring Tania."

"What? Why?"

"Because she knows his face and can be our eyes and ears while the rest of us scope out the place. She and Pepper both Not to mention it would look weird if we all had dates and you didn't. And you can't show up there alone. No one does that."

"Why can't Betty do it?"

"No offense Betty, but Tania has a bit more experience than you do."

"It's fine," the newly wed reassured.

"What about Bruce? I mean, not as... a date, but, uh... a lookout." He began blushing.

"This is a stealth mission. Bringing the Hulk might not be the best idea."

"And Thor?"

"Too big and conspicuous. Attracts too much attention even in disguise because of his height. Graham can't come either, he's also not as experienced as his sister."

"We'll be leading her straight into the line of fire!"

"Which is why they'll never suspect that we'd bring her. It's perfect. We'll all be in disguises anyway. Steve, she's coming."

They a staring contest until he finally sighed and conceded. "Fine. But I'm not leaving her side."

"Fine. Clint, and I can do the snooping."

"What about me?" Tony piped up.

"You're too recognizable. Even in a disguise in such a public place where everyone knows you it's too risky."

"So I have to sit still for hours and watch dancing monkeys on a stage in a penguin suit?"

"Pretty much."

"Why am I coming, again?"

"Because it's going to be our date, whether or not a mission is attached we are going to this show," Pepper told him, leaving no room for arguments.

He sighed. "Fine. But only because I love you."

She kissed his nose. "Thank you. And I love you too."

"Come on Nat," Clint said, shouldering his duffel bag, "let's go do some prep." She nodded at him and followed him into the elevator.

"Tania, Betty." Pepper called, turning away from her boyfriend and towards her brunette friends, "would you guys be able to help me pick something to wear?"

"Sure," they both agreed.

"Aren't you just going to wear a dress?" Tony asked, confused.

Pepper rolled her eyes before leaving with the girls. Steve leaned forward and decided to quote Howard on this, whether or not Tony knew it. "The moment you think you know what's going on inside a woman's head is the moment your goose is well and truly cooked."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like you."

"That's because I didn't come up with it. It works in this situation, don't you think?"

"Well my goose doesn't appear cooked, does it looked cooked to you? On second thought, don't answer that. I don't want you looking at my goose."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Wasn't planning on it."

"What? Is my goose not good enough for you?"

"How do you manage to turn everything into a dirty joke?"

"It's my super power."

"Maybe they should call you Iron Goose then," Graham suggested from his weight corner.

Bruce and Steve chuckled while Tony started a rant. "You know, I don't even know why they call me Iron Man. My suit is made out of gold titanium alloy which looks nothing like iron. Not to mention that if it were iron, the ability to control and manipulate my suit would be totally different. I mean, come on? Who wants to wear an actual suit made of iron? Certainly not me. Who in their right mind…?" and so on and so on.

* * *

In Pepper and Tony's bedroom, the three women (minus Natasha and Felicity, whom JARVIS was keeping an eye on to make sure nothing bad happened) were practically raiding the CEO's closet.

"What about this one?" Pepper held up a gorgeous red floor-length dress.

"It clashes with your hair too much," Betty stated, shaking her head.

"Well then I'll probably never wear it. Do either of you want it?"

"No thanks Pepper, it's not really my style," Tania declined.

However, Betty was eyeing it warily. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all!" Pepper reassured and handed the dress to her friend.

Betty was admiring it with her mouth open in wonder. "It's beautiful. I wonder when I'll get to wear it."

"There's an annual Stark Gala you can wear it to this year."

"Perfect!"

"Hey Pepper, what do you think about this one?" Tania held up a short violet Vera Wang dress.

The woman dubbed Rescue by the press shook her head. "Short dresses aren't acceptable for these kinds of events."

"Good to know."

Tania placed the hanger back on the bar. "What about this blue one?"

"That's the dress I wore to the Gala a few years ago where Tony and I danced together."

"Aww… that's sweet."

"But then he ditched me halfway through the night."

"Okay, not so sweet."

The three of them chuckled as Pepper sat on the bed and Betty hung her new dress on the doorknob to the closet before helping Tania look. "I suppose because of your hair colour, yellow and orange are ruled out too?"

"Right."

"Why do you even have these dresses if you won't wear them?"

"A lot of them were bought when I was upset that Tony forgot my birthday and then I would buy myself something and pretend it was from him."

"He didn't forget this year."

"I reminded him the day before."

"Did he at least get you something?"

"Yeah, he got me a pair of really expensive shoes I told him to buy along with a matching purse."

"Haha nice. Ooh, what about this white one?" Tania pulled a white ball gown style dress.

"It looks more like a wedding dress than something I would wear to a musical."

"Okay, so no white, red, orange, or yellow. My you have a lot of dresses in here."

She laughed. "I've been working for Tony for over a decade. I've bought myself quite a few birthday presents."

Betty and Tania laughed along with her before the older of the two grabbed a hanger from the rack. "Ooh, this one is gorgeous!"

"It's green. Green clashes with my hair."

"What doesn't?"

"Black."

"But black is so… depressing." Betty wrinkled her nose. "I don't like wearing black. I feel like I'm going to a funeral."

"I happen to think it looks very professional. Colour is more for partying, don't you think?"

"Okay then, how about muted colour or super dark colours like this navy one?" Tania suggested, brandishing a navy velvet dress.

Pepper gasped. "I completely forgot about that one! I bought it last year. It's never been worn."

"Perfect!" Tania tossed it on the bed next to her friend. "Do you want more options?"

"Sure, why not." Pepper shrugged. "So Betty, how's married life?"

She laughed a little. "It's wonderful. Bruce and I have been attached at the hip, getting to know each other again after all these years. And it just comes to us so naturally to act like a married couple around one another. It's great."

"That's fantastic. When's the honeymoon?"

"We're planning on leaving February first and then coming back at the end of the month to consummate our marriage over Valentine's day. Oh I like this one." She pulled out another dark purple dress, this time floor-length.

Pepper nodded in approval. "I like that one. Put it here." She tapped the navy dress by her side. Betty obliged and added it to the pile before returning to the humongous closet. "Where are you two going?"

"We're going all around the world. We're going to all the places Bruce went to while on the run and we're going to reunite with all the people there that he knew and tie up any loose ends while enjoying the culture of it all and relaxing on a nice vacation."

"That sounds nice."

"Doesn't it?"

"Oh, hey," Tania interrupted. "This one looks totally your style Pepper. Sorry to interrupt." She held up a black dress with white accents.

"No problem. Yes, I like that one. Put it with the others."

She obeyed. "I don't think there are any other dresses here suitable for this event. You should go try this on."

"Sure. I'll be right back." Pepper grabbed her dresses and strolled into the bathroom.

When the door was closed, Tania and Betty were left to their own devices. "You should try on that red dress, Betty. I wanna see how it looks on you. Not to mention if it fits."

"Well… okay. I'll just wait 'til Pepper's done."

"Cool, cool."

Awkward silence.

"Soo… Betty drawled, "I hear that you and Bruce are pretty close."

"I'd like to think I'm pretty close with everyone, but yeah."

"He talks about you sometimes."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He tells me that you can calm down the Hulk."

She nodded as the two of them sat on the bench in front of the foot of the bed. "It's true. He told me once that he likes listening to Latin music and that it's very calming. So one day, the two of us went grocery shopping when someone pushed a shelf over and it fell on top of us. Bruce almost hulked out but then I just… I don't know why I did it really but I started singing to him in Latin and he calmed down.

"Then when we were kidnapped by this Neil guy, he was injected with some… I don't know, stuff, and he hulked out immediately in retaliation. After some chasing and a bit of fighting, I sang to him again and he turned back to himself almost immediately. I've been doing it ever since."

"You must have a lovely singing voice then."

"Nah, it's… adequate, I guess."

"Don't be modest."

"I'm not being modest, honestly."

"Do you think… I could calm him down?" she asked as if she were insecure about herself.

Tania laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Of course. They both love you way more than they do me."

Before Betty could answer, Pepper opened the bathroom door and stepped out in the violet dress. She twirled into the bedroom. "Well? What do you think?"

"Gorgeous," Tania complimented.

"Beautiful," Betty added. "But… I don't know, I don't think this shade of purple really works…"

"Yeah, me neither. I'll go change into the black one. Be right back." Pepper was gone again, leaving Tania and Betty alone again.

"So, you know," Tania started, changing the subject, "Pepper, Natasha, and I have these bi-weekly trips to the spa for a girls day. Would you like to join us?"

A smile plastered itself on Mrs. Banner's face. "Really? I don't want to intrude…"

"You won't be. The more the merrier. Maybe one day, Jane will join us too."

"That sounds so nice."

"I know right? And with Pepper's money, because she insists on always paying no matter what, it's always super good quality. And trust me. As the girlfriend of a super hero, you are going to be needing these frequent spa days."

Betty laughed just as Pepper came out again in the black and white dress. "I like this one. It's nice and classy. Opinions from the peanut gallery?"

"I think it's perfect for this occasion," Betty consented.

"So do I, except… I think it might be a bit small, don't you think?"

"Hmm, now that you mention it, it does look a little… not properly proportionate."

Pepper quickly rushed to a mirror and twirled around in front of it, searching for the flaw the others had seen so easily. "I suppose your right, my stomach does look a little more round than I would like. But black is supposed to be slimming!" She turned to look at the back of the dress in the mirror. "But I guess I'll have to give this one away. Tania? Would you like to try it on?"

"I don't know, we're about the same size…"

"Oh come on, there's no harm in trying. Let's all change in different places into these dresses and come out at the same time. It'll be fun!"  
Tania didn't look convinced. "How is that fun?"

Betty gaped at her. "Okay, we're doing this." She grabbed Tania's arm and pulled her to her feet. "This is like a fashion show. Trust me, you'll have fun,"

"If you say so."

Five minutes later, Pepper emerged from the bathroom and Betty emerged from the closet while Tania remained in the bedroom, each wearing their dresses.

They all gasped as they looked at each other. "Pepper, it's perfect!" Betty exclaimed, a hand to her heart.

Pepper's dress was navy blue and made of suede fabric. It fell to the floor gracefully white black lace underneath to make the skirt a little bit 'poofier'. It was long-sleeved, which was good since it was winter, and hugged her arms snugly up until her wrists before creating a triangle that pointed over the tops of her hands. The neckline was a V-neck but it didn't plunge all the way down. She was too old for that kind of thing. It laced up at the back to make a corset and it gave off an air of elegance.

"It looks amazing on you," Tania agreed. "And Betty, that dress flatters you so much! Bruce might just Hulk out when he sees you."

Betty giggled and twirled the dress back and forth. "Thank you. It's a perfect fit." Her dress was a bright, dynamic red and had a halter top neckline that tied around the back of her neck over her shoulders. There was a braided belt around the waist the same shade of red as the dress and it was ankle-length on one side before rising diagonally up towards her knee to the other side. It had a low back and exposed her shoulder blades and spine.

"Tania, I think my dress fits better on you than it does on me," Pepper told her while looking her friend up and down.

Tania blushed. "I… well, I guess I'm a little taller than you."

Pepper nodded her head. "That's true. But look in the mirror and see for yourself how stunning you look."

She turned around to face the full length mirror against the wall and she couldn't stop the smile spreading across her face. "Wow…"

"That's what Steve is going to say when he sees you," Betty teased as she sauntered up to look in the mirror as well, with Pepper following so that the three of them fit in the frame of the mirror.

Tania's dress was mostly black and fell her ankles before it angled down diagonally like Betty's but only from her ankles to the floor. It was one shouldered (she tended to wear a lot of those… oh well) with a thick strap on her left and had a thin black belt around her waist with white lines in the shapes of flowers creeping along its length. The hem of her dress and the strap and neckline matched the belt and with it being mostly black, she felt a lot slimmer.

"We are some gorgeous ladies," Betty mused from over Tania's left shoulder.

"Those men won't know what hit them," Pepper agreed from the right.

"I feel the sudden urge to take a picture," Tania said and walked over to her phone which lay on the bed. She held it up to the mirror. "Smile!"  
The three women posed for the photo with picture perfect smiles for the first one and then made silly faces for the next one with the three of them giving each other bunny ears.

As the girls progressed through the evening looking for accessories, shoes, trying out different hairstyles and makeup looks, they snapped several dozen photos with Tania's phone and even cranked up the tunes and had a mini dance party.

Halfway through their little get together, Tania sent one of the photos of the three of them having fun to Natasha along with a text inviting her to join them. She texted back saying she was too busy prepping for the mission. But before Tania could feel disappointed, another message popped up saying that she would join in next time and for them to have fun. And there was a smiley face.

Tania toyed with the idea of Clint stealing Nat's phone and typing that but tossed it aside, deciding that it didn't really matter and relayed the message to the others before being pulled onto the bed and dancing around to Pitbull and a whole range of other top forties artists, making sure the door was locked so Tony couldn't come in and catch them.

They had been right. Tania did have a lot fun.


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N. Hi! :) ... okay you guys are going to hate me after this chapter. But what's a story without a little suspense and action? Anyway, I won't keep you. Read on and enjoy :D**

CHAPTER XX

"Well, don't you look all…?" Felicity hesitated, "Dressed up."

Everyone rolled their eyes at her but no one said anything. Pepper, Tony, Natasha, Clint, Tania, and Steve were getting ready to leave for the party and had gathered in the lounge with the others to say good-bye. Unfortunately, Felicity had followed them and was criticizing everyone's looks.

Pepper continued fixing Tony's tie, ignoring the obnoxious woman behind her. "You look positively smashing," she told him.

"And you are striking," he returned, "Meow."

Felicity pretended to gag. How immature of her. How old did she think she was, eleven?

"You all look marvelous," Betty reassured, smoothing out Tania's dress. "I feel like a mom sending her kids away to prom."

"All that's missing is a corsage," Tania played along.

"I… may have one," Steve mumbled, blushing a little. He reached into his back pocket and for a split second, Tania thought he would produce the ring. But it was disproved when he actually did have a flower in his hands. It was a white Lilly – her favourite.

"Oh… it's beautiful," she breathed.

A chorus of "awwww…"s echoed in the background. "It's also plastic," he admitted shyly.

"Boo..." Tony dissed. No one paid him any attention.

"It'll last longer," she said back to her boyfriend.

He smiled at her and wrapped it around her left wrist. A flash went off and they both turned to Graham, who was holding the camera. "I wasn't home for your first prom, so I'm going to commemorate your second."

Tania shook her head with a loving grin on her face. "This isn't prom."

"Well I'm going to pretend it is."

"Whatever."

"You know what, this does feel a little like sending you away to prom," Bruce confessed, putting an arm around his wife's waist.

"They grow up so fast," Graham sniffed, wiping away a fake tear.

Chuckles emanated from several people around the room. "Well we'd better go," Natasha stated, looking at her watch. "The show starts in an hour. If you guys want good seats we'll have to get there early."

The Widow was wearing an emerald green silk dress that was ankle-length with a long slit all the way up her thigh and was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. She wore a long orange haired wig similar to Pepper's hair colour that fell in curls all the way down her back with brown contacts again.

Clint was also in disguise, with a fake mustache and an all-white tuxedo with a matching green tie to Natasha's dress and his hair gelled back with enough gunk to hold a house together.

Tony and Pepper weren't in disguises because they didn't need to be. If they were recognized, no one would care or suspect anything. They went to fancy things like this all the time (well, Pepper did, and she occasionally dragged her boyfriend along).

Steve was wearing another brown wig with a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose and Tania wore a blonde wig that had been twisted up in an intricate bun. Natasha had created a fake nose to cover her real one and when she looked in the mirror she hardly recognized herself. It was perfect. Her cell phone was tied around her right ankle and Peggy's knife was around her left – she never left home without it. Her pocket watch was wrapped around her right hand several times like a series of bangles and she borrowed one of Pepper's very large, very expensive, diamond necklaces that felt extremely heavy around her neck.

"Natasha's right," Clint agreed, one hand tucked into the inside of his jacket. "We should go. Is Happy waiting outside?"

Tony nodded. "Yup. He's in the car."

In order not to set off too much suspicion, Clint and Natasha would arrive first in the car Tony had given Clint when he first moved into the Tower (not that the public knew that, the car had never been used) while Tony and Pepper would arrive in their limo. Steve and Tania would appear several minutes later by another one of Tony's lesser known but just as expensive cars.

They bid their friends and family good-bye before setting the plan into motion. Once they were all inside, they regrouped in a remote corner of the grand hall but never interacted, simply remaining in the same room and watching each other. They used their comms to discreetly communicate to each other.

"Okay, Hawkeye and I will split up and head to the bathroom exactly one minute before the lights dim, signaling everyone to watch the show. Once everyone is seated, we'll look around and keep you posted," Natasha whispered into her drink with Clint by her side.

Across the room, Pepper and Tony were talking to what appeared to be a business associate of theirs and couldn't respond, trapped in the social convention of carrying on a conversation.

Near the doors to the theatre itself, Steve and Tania stood arm in arm, munching on hors d'oeuvres. "Copy that," she whispered before placing another little bite of food in her mouth.

"We'll contact again during intermission," Steve muttered under his breath as he pretended to observe a marble column.

"Move out," Clint ordered.

Forty-five minutes later, the lights flashed, indicating that everyone should be seated. Natasha and Clint had already left for the washrooms, so the four remaining Avengers and honorary Avengers made their way to their seats among the throng of people. They showed the guards their tickets that Tony had bought the night before and headed inside. Steve and Tania had seats near the back in the middle while Pepper and Tony watched the show from one of the balconies above.

"Rescue, Iron Man, where are you guys? I can't see you," Tania asked, barely moving her lips as she randomly threw her gaze around the room.

"We're right above you," Pepper answered in her ear. "We can see you but don't turn and look. Just keep watching the show."

Tania didn't answer, instead favouring to interlace her fingers with Steve's on the armrest and cross her legs. Ten minutes after they had been seated, the lights dimmed almost completely and the red curtains opened.

For an hour and fifteen minutes, the four of them sat and watched the musical. Steve found it enjoyable. It didn't use much technology and it was something he could follow, having seen the movie back in the forties in theatres.

Tania and Pepper also liked the first half so far, both thinking about how talented the actors were. It was obvious that a lot of money and hard work had been put into this production and it showed in a very good way.

Tony, on the other hand, was bored out of his mind. He couldn't stop fidgeting and kept making sarcastic remarks. He too, had seen the movie and didn't see the point in re-watching it live. It made no difference to him whatsoever. He kept making quips throughout the play and Pepper continued to shush him whenever he did so. He sighed loudly and she shushed him again.

He couldn't have been happier when the lights came back on. "Finally!" he whined, stretching his body and groaning when his back and neck cracked.

Pepper rolled her eyes at him and ushered him out of the balcony. They rendezvous-ed back in the grand hall with Tania and Steve via the comms. Clint and Natasha were yet to be seen.

The intermission was only a fifteen to twenty minutes long. They didn't have much time to waste. "Hawkeye, Black Widow, do you copy?" Steve tried, pretending to cough into his shoulder.

No answer.

A hand tapped his shoulder and he turned. There stood Clint in his disguise with a blank look on his face. He turned to Tania and began signing._ They know we brought company. We have to bring you with us. Nat stayed behind to make sure I didn't run away._

_Clint, what's going on?!_ Tania asked, hand gestures shaky and frantic. Steve looked between the two, completely lost.

_I'll explain later, but right now I need you to come with us. We can't bring Tony or Pepper – they'll be recognized as Avengers and the whole plan will sink. Come with me._ He gestured for them to follow him and they did.

Steve didn't ask and Tania didn't explain. They couldn't. There were too many people. They soon got lost in the crowd before entering through a door that said, STAFF ONLY. When it swung shut behind them, Tania explained their conversation to Steve and the others over the comm as they walked down the eerily silent, white corridor.

All the while, Clint didn't say anything – just kept leading them forward. Steve grabbed Tania's hand and brought her closer to him, making sure his grip was tight. They were walking right into the heart of the enemy, from what he understood. He prayed that Tania would not be recognized and squeezed her hand for comfort. She squeezed back once.

They turned a corner and slipped through a door on their right that had been left ajar. Clint closed it behind them.

The trio found themselves in what appeared to be a meeting room with over a dozen men sitting around the table and leaning against the walls and standing off to the side. Natasha stood out like a sore thumb in her bright colours as the men all wore dark grey, black, or navy. Clint immediately marched over to Natasha and stood beside her, removing a cigarette from his mouth that Tania hadn't noticed until now. Clint didn't smoke. But apparently the character he was playing did.

He began speaking perfect German as if he had grown up with it to the several men. He gestured to Steve and Tania, who were still standing by the door, trying not to let their anxiety show.

One of the older, more chubbier men at the head of the oval table huffed and answered back, waving his hand vaguely in the newcomers' direction. This conversation went on for a little while and Steve and Tania took the chance to look around the room.

It was a fairly small room cramped with what was probably almost twenty people. The men ranged in age from early twenties to what appeared to be as old a hundred. They all had some forms of blonde hair and blue eyes and were all looking fairly unhappy with their current situation.

"... wollen wir HYDRA für den gleichen Zweck kommen ..." Tania and Steve both snapped to attention. It was Clint who was speaking, both hands in his pockets (and probably wrapped around some sort of weapon) to the chubby man from before.

The couple shared a way glance. Hydra? As in, the followers of Johann Schmidt? They had survived? That wasn't good. Despite the time machine having been destroyed along with Tony's Malibu Mansion, the fact that the two of them had gone to the past and possibly changed everything was ever present in their minds. Was this a repercussion of what happened in nineteen forty-five?

Tania remembered being told that Hydra's sole purpose was to avenge their leader's death and to get revenge on Captain America. She paled. That was it. Hydra wanted to kill her in order to get to Steve. Her grasp on his hand tightened visibly.

While Clint continued talking, Steve caught bits and pieces of the conversation, but not enough to actually follow what they were talking about. They were speaking incredibly fast and he just couldn't keep up.

Tania turned her head to the right and jumped when she realized that there was a really old man in a chair just about a meter from her. Steve instinctively pulled her closer and she placed her other hand on his bicep as she looked back at the man. They made eye contact.

They both gasped. She recognized him from somewhere, but couldn't put her finger on where. It wasn't Austerlitz, that was for sure. He seemed to recognize her as well, but also couldn't seem to point out from where.

One of the younger men standing next to the old man noticed this and his eyed widened. He knew who she was. He pulled a gun on her and Steve lunged forward, grabbed the man's arm and aimed it at the ceiling just as the gunshot went off. "Es ist Kaptain Amerika und seine Freundin! Sie sind alle Spione! Hol sie dir!"

All hell broke loose.

Everyone acted at once. The man from before went to throw an uppercut into Steve's gut but the Captain caught his fist mid-swing and twisted, before pressing his foot against the man's chest and yanking back on the arms. The man screamed before Steve used the butt of the gun to whack his temple. As his opponent fell, unconscious, he grabbed the gun and whirled around, shooting one of the men by the desk with newly acquired firearm.

A few feet away, Tania ducked under a punch before dropping into a crouch, ripping her dress to spread her legs wide (oops… she'll pay Pepper back later) and spun her left leg in front of her to knock the attacker off his feet. She felt a gun being pressed against her temple and her body reacted without her brain's consent. She whipped her forearm against the gun just as it fired and spun around, swinging her left leg up high and managing to kick him in the neck (not really where she was aiming… but whatever worked). She must have hit a pressure point because he collapsed like a rag doll. A large hand gripped her left arm tightly and she was pulled backward and slammed into the wall harshly. She grunted before he yanked her forward and she ended up sprawled on the floor. A voice in the back of her mind that sounded suspiciously like Natasha spoke up. "NEVER get on the ground if possible. If you do, get up or you're done." Tania spun her legs away from her attacker and pushed herself to her feet, turning to face him again. She ran and used his right thigh as a foot stool as she brought her right leg up to step on his chest and then kick her left foot forward into his face as hard as she could. She landed unsteadily on her feet while he staggered back, dazed. She took this moment to grab a painting off the wall and smash if over his head.

On the other side of the room, Natasha grabbed one man's arm and hit a pressure point in his neck, dropping him instantly. Immediately, she spun and blocked a punch from one of the henchman before shoving her foot into his chest, knocking him backward where she jumped into the air and slammed her heel into his throat. Two men approached her from behind and she whipped her head between them before leaping forward onto the large oval table and dropping to a crouch before placing all her weight onto her hands. She spread her legs into the splits and used her hands to spin herself around like a propeller and took out three different henchmen at once. She slowed her pace and lowered one knee to the table, followed by her other leg. She flipped her hair up to get out of her face to before threading one leg through the space between the other leg and her arm and slid forward, slamming her foot into one man's crotch before rolling backward and hopping onto his shoulders, trapping his head between her thighs. She threw her torso and arms backward, forcing the man to bend with her as she whipped her body around, bringing his with her by the head before she crushed his neck into the ground.

A few feet from her, Clint performed a front handspring which turned into a back handspring where he landed on one man's shoulder, performing the same move as Natasha in perfect synchronisation with her. When the man was on the ground, he back flipped before doing a perfect split midair to kick two men on opposite sides of in the faces before landing in a frog-like crouch. He stepped forward and grabbed the arm rests of one of the office chairs before swinging it to his right and bashing it into the back of a HYDRA soldier's head, knocking him out immediately. He clutched another attacker's shirt and easily threw him into one of the others chairs in the row, sending it backwards far enough to push away all the other chairs on wheels and end up in a cluster against the wall on the other side of the room. Clint delivered a roundhouse kick a man in his way before jumping and scissoring his legs against the man's head, breaking his neck instantly. Without looking, he reached behind him and grabbed another man's head, bringing it under his arm before grabbing his jaw with one hand and the scalp the other. He twisted sharply before dropping him and dive rolling onto the table. He stood up on the far left side, tilting the table to the ground where he slid down like a surfer before hopping off. He grabbed two guns from the men he had just killed while ducking behind his newly made cover and made quick work of the henchmen on his side.

Natasha saw what Clint was doing and cartwheeled over to him. He tossed her a gun and she caught it easily, turning so that they were back to back and shooting all of the HYDA soldiers she could see. They were all down within seconds. Now for the ones on the other side.

Tania managed to get a few feet closer to Steve while fighting, but there were still a couple opponents between them. A punch to the side of her head that she couldn't block shoved her to the ground on her stomach. Another gunshot went off and Steve fell beside her. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood pooling around his stomach.

"_STEVE_!" she shrieked.

The Captain was still alive, but he was coughing up blood and struggling to get up. Someone stepped in front of her and she screamed at them, lashing out. She was on the ground. This was very bad. But Steve shot and maybe even dying and she was a little distracted. Using this to their dull advantage, the HYDRA minions managed to get a cloth around her mouth and nose.

She screamed and clawed and punched and kicked but she was being held down. They had been so close. There were only four of them left out of what, twenty? They had been doing so well.

She looked around before her vision could get too fuzzy to see and inhaled the horrible chloroform that made her gag. She couldn't see Steve but she saw Clint and Natasha pop their heads up from behind the table and start shooting. But then blood spurted from Natasha's shoulder and she cried out, falling backward behind the safety of the table.

"NO!" Clint cried out, but the sound was fading out until all she could hear was a dull ringing. The colours began blurring together but she registered gunshots and then the disappearance of Clint's bright white tuxedo, leaving only the light wood of the table and the black of the clothes of men around her. And then nothing.

Her head lolled.

**A/N. Oh, and again, you're not supposed to understand the German. Just the words like HYDRA and Captain America and stuff. I'll update soon, I promise! :)**


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N. And I'm back :) So okay, you guys aren't the type to complain about cliff hangers (too much). Good to know :D You guys are awesome btw, readers AND reviewers alike. Have you guys seen the new LEGO MARVEL video game trailer? There's this one part where Steve says, "I'm going to spangle you until you see stars" and I cracked up. Go check it out. It looks cool to me :D Anyway, enjoy the next chapter!**

CHAPTER XXI

Pepper and Tony were freaking out. No one was answering their comms. The show was about to start. They were nowhere to be seen and hadn't told them where they'd gone. Tony eventually convinced Pepper that he would look for them while she watched the rest of the show and dropped her off in the balcony before making his way to the bathroom.

He waited until he was sure there was no one anywhere except in the theatre and then poked his head out. He looked right and left. No one. He slipped out and began exploring. He knew the direction in which Clint and Natasha had gone when they first arrived two hours before. He would start there.

He didn't bother worrying about the surveillance cameras. He knew the master assassins had taken care of those last night. He walked as quietly as he could down a long white hallway, passing several doors. He pressed his ear to each one and heard talking from behind all of them. He couldn't open the door for risk of being scene. At the end of the corridor, after turning several corners, Tony caught sight of a door that was ajar.

He peeked inside. It was a mess. There were dead bodies all over the place and a giant table flipped over in the middle. There was a pile of office chairs with a dead body mangled inside against the wall. There was even a man with a painting around his neck. Tony nudged the door open wider silently and stepped inside. This was definitely the place. The table had multiple bullets lodged inside it and so did the walls and the floor and many of the bodies, none of which he recognized.

He swallowed the bile in his throat and loosened his tie. How had no one heard the gunshots? Well, it had been rather loud in the grand hall… maybe the room was sound proof? But if the door was ajar…

He shook away the thoughts for later and walked around the table. He gasped. Clint and Natasha lay crumpled on the ground. He had so many bullet holes in his chest that he looked like Swiss cheese and she had blood flowing from somewhere near her collarbone.

Tony fell to his knees. "NO!" He checked Natasha's pulse. Still alive. He breathed a sigh of relief before doing the same to Clint. Also alive. He felt an immediate sense of the lightening of weight from his shoulders. He ripped apart Clint's jacket and button-down. The damn archer was wearing a bullet vest. But with so many pellets in his chest, no wonder the guy had passed out.

The billionaire gently peeled the Kevlar from his friend and Clint hissed and grabbed Tony's wrist, twisting it at an odd angle and threatening to break it.

"OW! HEY! Hey, it's just me! Stop it!"

Clint blinked a few times. "Tony?"

"Yeah, it's me."

He blinked some more. "Oh." Another few seconds later he let go. He looked down. "Oh," he repeated. "Continue."

Tony nodded and slowly removed the vest, revealing an almost completely black and blue chest. Clint wheezed and closed his tuxedo jacket before rolling over to Natasha. He ripped off the shirt he wore underneath (literally) and began wrapping it around her arm and back in ways Tony couldn't even comprehend.

"Bullet wound close to the collar bone," the assassin explained, "lost a lot of blood. We need to get her to a medic. She needs to go to SHIELD."

"Clint."

"Hm?"

"Where are Steve and Tania?" Clint froze, his fingers hovering over his love's injury. He closed his hands into fists and clenched his teeth.

"They took them."

"Who?"

Clint turned his head to look Tony dead in the eye. "HYDRA."

* * *

After picking up Pepper, Clint called SHIELD requesting a quinjet to base immediately and the four of them made their way to the roof with the archer carrying his unconscious partner. She was pale and limp and no one except Strike Team Delta (Clint and Natasha) had ever seen her like this. It was scarier than when she was angry.

A few agonizing minutes later, the wind picked up and the jet they knew was cloaked in invisibility hovered above them. They sent down a rope which Pepper climbed first, then Tony, and then Clint just grabbed it while holding Natasha so that they could pull them both in.  
Another agonizing several minutes later, they reached the helicarrier and dropped off Natasha in the med bay while contacting the other Avengers. Bruce and Thor promise to arrive as soon as possible seeing as the others weren't allowed on (and weren't supposed to even know about) the helicarrier.

While Clint opted to stay in the med bay with Natasha, the CEO couple requested to see Director Fury right away. It took some convincing and a very angry fit thrown by –surprisingly- Pepper. She was scary when she was angry. The agent ran off to find the Director while Iron Man and Rescue made their way to the meeting room that looked out over the rest of the agents on computers.

They paced and fidgeted and waited and finally, Fury showed up. "This better be good, Stark," was his greeting.

"This is anything but good." Before the Director could response, Tony cut in and continued. "HYDRA has been resurrected."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Positive. Clint heard it with his own ears."

"And where is Agent Barton?"

"In the med bay with his partner who almost bled out from one of those HYDRA soldiers."

"… go on."

Less than an hour later, Bruce and Thor arrived and Clint had dragged himself away from the hospital section of the helicarrier while Natasha was in surgery to help tell the story.

They decided to start from the very beginning: the assassination attempt in Philadelphia. Pepper was the one to tell the story. After that, it was Tony who took over for the investigation in Europe and then Clint for the attack on the Statue of Liberty. Bruce then took his turn with the events in the Tower like the bullets against the window before it turned to Pepper when they reached the night they wanted to check out the theatre (that same night).

Clint took over yet again to start on the snooping. "Nat and I did a quick sweep of the place last night – habit – and took out all the security cameras. Today, while the show went on, she and I snuck around looking for anything suspicious. We came across a room full of men dressed in black. They weren't talking loudly enough to hear. We decided to join the conversation.

"Yes, I know, risky, but it's not an actual mission. There were no rules. Anyway, turns out they all spoke German and refused to speak any other language. Since Natasha doesn't know German, I did all of the talking. I asked them if they had a grudge against the Avengers. They asked me why I want to know. I told them that we had a grudge against Captain America. After a little bit of convincing, they believed us and said that if we were telling the truth and sought them out to join up with them, that they knew there would be more people with us. They were adamant about this until they basically forced me out to find the others they quote unquote 'knew' we had with us. I couldn't bring Tony and Pepper because they weren't in disguises so my only options were Steve and Tania, and since one couldn't stay without the other, I had to bring them both.

"I took them back to the room and asked if they were happy now. They said yes. The only information I managed to get out of them was that they were HYDRA and that they had this HUGE grudge against Steve and that's why they've been trying to kill Tania. Before I could interrogate them further, something happened and I think one of the men recognized Tania in her disguise and pulled a gun on her. Steve, of course, attacked the man without thought and then an all-out brawl started.

"It would be a waste tell you all the details but it was nineteen against four. Normally this wouldn't be a problem for Nat and I, however it wasn't just us. Steve got shot which distracted Tania enough for the men to subdue her which, I dare say it, distracted us enough for them to shoot us."

Tony took over from there, telling his side of the story of how he found them and brought them back here. Fury listened intently and nodded every now and again while Bruce, Thor, Pepper, and Tony all looked horrified at what had happened when none of them had been present.

"If you were shot, why aren't you in the med bay, Agent Barton?"

"Kevlar."

"And Agent Romanoff just conveniently forgot?"

Clint rolled her eyes. Natasha didn't forget things like that. "It's a lot more complicated for women, Director. I can easily wear a Kevlar vest under a jacket but girls wear dresses to these kinds of things. That doesn't leave much room for bulky Kevlar. Plus, if you haven't noticed, she hardly ever wears Kevlar on regular missions, let alone a non-regulated one."

"Where was she shot?"

"The shoulder. Just beneath the collar bone."

"Hm."

"Well, what are we going to do?!" Tony piped up. "We can't just sit here while those HYDRA bastards have Tania and Steve!"

"Do you know where they went?" Fury raised an eyebrow.

"No-"

"Do you have any idea where they might be?"

"No-"

"Do you even know if they're alive?"

"I-"

"Didn't think so."

"They're alive!" He slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "Damn it! If HYDRA wanted them killed, they'd have left them there. But no. They want revenge. Death isn't good enough for them."

"Torture…" Bruce breathed, suddenly extremely pale. He excused himself from the room as his complexion began to turn a slight shade of green. Agent Hill followed him discreetly to keep an eye on him.

All of the remaining Avengers turned silent and Tony sat back down with his head in his hands. Pepper rubbed his back soothingly and rested her head on his shoulder, slow tears streaming down her face.

"I suggest you all sleep here for the night," Fury spoke, hands clasped behind his back as usual, "it will be easier to conduct a search that way."

"So…" Pepper dragged out, not quite understanding the meaning behind his words.

"As of right now, SHIELD has a vendetta against HYDRA. I am making this a regulated mission for all available members of the Avengers Initiative."

Tony's head shot up from his hands. "Jarvis!" He fumbled in his pockets for his cell phone. "Jarvis, run the facial recognition software on Tania and Steve and find them. Give me their last known location."

"I need a picture, Sir."

"You know what they looks like Jarvis, don't give me that bullshit!"

"I am sorry, but I do need a photo."

"I have some," Pepper butted in. She reached into her silver clutch for her phone. "We took this pictures last night." She scrolled through the many photos of her, Tania, and Betty having an awesome girls' night and held it in front of Tony's camera on his phone to scan. She then scrolled some more and found a picture of Steve that she took when he had stayed over for dinner for the very first time.

"Scanning… complete. Running software now. Estimated time: five point four hours."

"Damn," Tony cursed. The stupid thing took so damn long! Well, it did have to look through ever single camera on the entire planet not to mention hack into all the satellites in the sky. He supposed it made sense but he was not a patient man.

"Ms. Potts," Fury addressed, "I'm sorry, but SHIELD protocol states that any one person not a member of SHIELD cannot stay overnight."

"I understand."

"I'll have Agent Hill personally escort you back to the Tower in the quinjet."

"Thank you Director."

She stood up just as Bruce and Maria re-entered. "Did you hear that Agent Hill?"

"Yes, Sir."

"You are all dismissed."

Everyone reluctantly stood and went their separate ways, finding rooms to stay in somewhere on the helicarrier or in Pepper's case, going home. Fury turned and braced his hands on the railing, looking out over his many agents hard at work as well as the starry night sky through the gigantic window in front of him.

He would have to go to the Council about this. He was not particularly excited about that. Re-discovering HYDRA was a big deal. It was a deadly organization in the weapons division of one of the worst times the world has ever seen: World War Two. And they have a purpose and presumably no leader. This could lead to utter chaos.

He pushed off of the railing and turned, his black leather coat trailing behind him as he walked forward. He made his way through several hallways and around many corners and past multiple security features and doors before he arrived in a room that was pitch black.

He walked along the seemingly floating runway until he reached the circle at the end. When he stood on the SHIELD insignia embedded into the floor, twelve screens lit up around him, revealing the silhouettes of the council.

"What is it, Director Fury?" the one farthest to the left asked. Although all of the council members remained anonymous, Fury had given them all 'nicknames' in his head to keep track of who was who. This guy was Bored.

"There has been a recent discovery. One, I think, that would interest you greatly."

"Well, what is it?" Impatient asked.

"HYDRA has come back from the dead."

There was silence in the room as the council members took in this new information. "How do you know this?" A woman to the far right asked. Her 'name' was Curiousity.

"A few of my agents went on a non-regulated mission. Two of them were captured." They didn't need to know that Tania wasn't an agent. 'Them' actually referred to the Avengers. Again, the council didn't need to know that.

"Who?" Blunt demanded to know.

Fury sighed. Twisting the truth was okay. Lying to the council was unacceptable. "Captain Steve Rogers was among the captured."

There were several murmurs of disbelief and shock after his statement that died down after a few seconds. "And the other?"

Fury hesitated. "Her name is Tania Banks. She does not work for SHIELD, but I have been trying to get her to join for months."

"Isn't that the Captain's girlfriend?" Curiousity wondered.

Fury just barely restrained himself from grinding his teeth. These people knew too much for his liking. "Yes." His answer was curt.

"Do you know where they were taken?" Impatient inquired.

"Not yet."

"You need to find their base of operations and neutralize it," ordered Commander.

"That will most likely be where Captain Rogers and Miss Banks are being held," he pointed out, not liking where this was going.

"They are unfortunate liabilities but if we can bring down HYDRA once and for all, it will have been worth it," Blunt agreed.

"Captain America is the best leader I've seen in years and is the only one experienced in fighting HYDRA. He is the Captain of the Avengers Initiative, you can't just blow him up like it's no big deal."

"He is only one man, Director. One man in exchange for many."

"I don't care. He's one very important man that SHIELD and the world cannot afford to lose. Not to mention that Miss Banks has the potential to be a very effective agent in the future."

"Director Fury," started Commander, "if we don't bomb that HYDRA base as soon as possible, several innocent people could die."

"So we're willing to sacrifice the world's symbol for hope to do it?"

"The world still has the other Avengers."

"I have a feeling there won't be an 'Avengers' if you kill Captain Rogers. They will disband and they won't be a real team anymore."

"They will fight when we need them to. Isn't that what you told us, Director?"

Fury lowered his eyebrows and looked at all of the screens sternly. "This is a mistake."

"I agree with him," a woman whom Fury had nicknamed Phoenix piped up.

"The council must discuss," the Commander declared.

Without warning, all the screens muted themselves so that Fury couldn't hear. He grumbled impatiently while he waited for them to come to a decision. His hands were clenched into fists behind his back.

Fifteen minutes later (he'd been counting), the sound returned. "Director Fury, the council has come to a decision." Commander folded his hands over his desk and leaned forward.

"And what decision would that be?"

"You have twelve hours after discovering the location of the HYDRA base before the order is to be given that it be eliminated; casualties or not."

Fury closed his eyes in disappointment. "Yes, Sir."

"Dismissed."

All the screens turned to black, leaving Fury in the darkness.


	23. Chapter 22

**A/N. Hi again :) Let's check up Stania, shall we? Enjoy :D**

CHAPTER XXII

Tania didn't remember much about the past eighteen hours or so. She was in and out of consciousness and when she was in, everything was blurry the ringing would come back, blocking her from hearing anything important. These little bouts of consciousness were met with more drugs and she was put back to sleep.

When she awoke this time, she did not immediately fall back asleep. Everything was blurry and dark her blood pumped in her ears and her heart thumped against her ribs. She blinked, dazed. Was she moving? Oh, wait, no. Her head was just lolling from side to side. She stopped and lifted it with more effort than should be strictly necessary.

The colours began to separate and the blurriness started to fade. About a full minute later, Tania could see again. Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton and the ringing wasn't going away. She had nothing better to do than wait it out.

So she did. It took quite a while but she eventually became alert and the annoying ringing stopped. She looked around. She was in a rather large room with bare walls, ceiling, and floor that was cold and appeared to be made of some sort of metal. It was high-ceilinged and perfectly square shaped, like she was in the middle of a cube. It was really dark inside but there was light coming from somewhere – at least enough to be able to see the shapes of things.

The only thing inside of the room was herself and the chair she appeared to be tied to. She tugged at her wrists a little; yup, too tight to break free. Her wrists were the only parts of her that were restrained and she could feel the handle of Peggy's knife pressing into her ankle as well as her cell phone attached to the other. How had her captors not seen that? She felt blessed with good luck as she began to stretch her leg back, reaching for it.

She was still in her black dress, although she had two long slits up both sides now from ripping it and it was wrinkled and filthy, much like she was. She wondered if her disguise was still on.

Her leg strained to get close enough to her hand to grab the knife and she craned her neck to see how far away it was. It was pretty close. But close wasn't good enough. She eventually stopped and took a break before trying the other leg to try and reach her cell phone. Her right leg was a little more flexible than her left, so she managed to press the emergency button on her phone. No sooner did she do it did a voice in her ear nearly startle her to death.

"There is no reception in this vicinity."

Tania jumped violently, taking the chair up with her before struggling to stand and slamming it back down onto the ground, echoing painfully throughout the room.

"I would not speak if I were you," JARVIS informed her from her comm, "there are security cameras in each corner and listening devices along the walls."

The brunette pretended not to have heard him, but wanted so badly to communicate with him. She needed to ask him to contact the others. She needed to know if Steve was okay. Her stomach was in knots and her heart began racing all over again. If Steve was… if he was… she couldn't even think it. It was too painful.

As if reading her mind, the AI spoke once again. "I have tried contacting the others while you were unconscious. It seems that the HYDRA soldiers carry around signal scramblers with certain dimensions. I cannot reach the others because of these devices, however I can connect with Captain Rogers' comm.

"The devices the soldiers carry around have been put together into one big scrambler which forms a barrier. The more power it has, the bigger the barrier. This invisible force field is not tangible and is the cause of difficulty with communication to the other Avengers. Seeing as both you and the Captain are both under the 'dome' so to speak, you are able to communicate freely."

So he's alive. She breathed a sigh of relief, but this feeling didn't last long. Last she had seen him, he'd been shot. Even though she knew that he healed incredibly fast, the nagging doubt that he might be dying was fresh in her mind. He was in the same barrier as her. He was close. But how big was the barrier? She needed to figure out a way to find him. Even if she managed to cut herself loose, she wouldn't dare leave without him.

If he was alive, why wasn't JARVIS letting her talk to him right now? How could she get this message across to the AI? Sign language? Nope, her hands were literally tied. Morse code? She didn't even know Morse code… Mind reading? Yeah right. Maybe she could talk… but make it look like she was just begging for mercy from the camera's point of view. Who's to say anyone was actually watching her, anyway?

She faked sniffling. "Steve…" she whispered.

JARVIS seemed to understand. "My apologies Miss Banks, but Captain Rogers is currently unconscious."

"Help me…" she mumbled.

"In your comm, I only have so many functions. I can help you connect with other comms. I can detect any other electrical devices within a certain area. I can conduct body scans of anyone wearing a comm. And I can track your movements within a certain area, giving you directions on where to go."

Bingo. "Where…? Where am I?"

"Unfortunately, the scrambler doesn't just nix communication devices. It also renders wireless signals of any kind null and void."

Damn. "Steve? Where are you?" she called out to the empty room, trying to sound desperate. It wasn't all that hard. Maybe she should have considered trying an acting career back in high school.

"He is in a room similar to yours halfway to the other side of the base. If you were to escape, I could give you directions."

Hallelujah! If she could cut herself loose, she could use JARVIS to help her get out of there. She began reaching for the knife again, this time, much more determined. After quite a while of straining and stretching, she grasping the hilt and pulled it from her ankle. She flipped it open and began sawing her ropes. They were really thick so it took a long time but she eventually cut herself loose and stood up. She reattached the knife to her ankle and ran forward, her dress swishing behind her. She yanked the wig from her head, letting hair fall loosely around her shoulders and ripped her fake nose off her face, tossing it to the side without a care in the world.

She just made it to the door when it opened. She panicked when a HYDRA soldier entered, just a foot in front of her. "HEY-!" she slammed her palm into his throat, cutting off his shout before swinging her left leg as high as she could and into the man's temple directly. He fell to the floor in a heap.

Without thinking, she ran out the door and into the brightly lit hallways. "Jarvis, where to?" she asked, trying to adjust to the light.

"Down the corridor to your right."

She followed his instructions, blinking hazily, before turning a left corner into two more guards. On instinct, she spun around, delivering two good kicks to their chests. They stumbled back and she grabbed one of their guns before shooting his leg. While that guy screamed in pain, she turned around and shot the other one in the arm. Despite how much noise they were making and how much attention they bringing upon themselves, she couldn't shoot them anywhere else. That would surely kill them.

With a heavy heart and stomach, she kept running, despite the lump in her throat. "Through that door."

She obeyed and shoved the door open pointed the gun around. There were two more guards patrolling the hallway and that's when she saw that they were wearing bullet proof vests. It took several tries (she still wasn't that great with her aim) but she managed to shoot them down before leaping over their unconscious forms and sprinting.

"Turn here."

Sirens started and there was yelling in German that she didn't understand and suddenly she was swarmed by guards. "He is just in that room at the end of the hall," JARVIS informed her before all she could see was the black of men's uniforms.

"STEVE!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping he would awaken, or at least know that she was alive. "STEVE!"

There were hands everywhere and she couldn't push them all back. She couldn't kill them. She wouldn't. She just couldn't come to terms with taking away someone's life, with the evil power that came with wielding a gun.

So she dropped it and tried to fight with her hands and feet and any body part available. She smashed the back of her head against someone's jaw and kicked someone else in between the legs and she bit down on another person's hand. She stomped on someone's foot and she elbowed someone else in the gut. But none of it was enough. She found herself being drugged – again. She was beginning to really hate that feeling.

* * *

Steve jerked awake. Tania? He whipped his head back forth as memories came rushing back to him and the pain in his abdomen was noticed.

"STEVE!" There it was again!

"TANIA!" He shouted back, struggling to get up. There were handcuffs around his wrists held together by some sort of sizzling wire and he was stuck on this chair by his ankles. He yanked and he pulled and he yelled but he could not free his hands. It was extremely dark in his room, pitch black almost. But with his super senses, he could see pretty well. That unfortunately did not do much, seeing as the only thing to see was a wall and a door.

The sirens that had been going off since before he had awoken suddenly became noticeable. He came to the conclusion that Tania must have escaped or done something to make them mad. He prayed for the first one.

He kept tugging at his restraints despite the metal digging into his skin and the strain on his muscles. He had to get to Tania. He had to keep her safe. He had to. He loved her.

His door was suddenly thrown open and the room was flooded with bright light. Steve squinted and turned his head away slightly, trying to see what was happening. The silhouette flipped a switch and the room was illuminated perfectly. His eyes adjusted rapidly and his entire body tensed at what stood before him.

Arnold Austerlitz held Tania's limp form by her arm and was dragging her inside with a frown on his face. He tossed her a few feet in front of Steve, who was yanking and pulling as hard as he could while glaring at this monster of a man who had dared a hand on his Darling Tania.

"Wake her," the man ordered in a heavy German accent. He closed the door behind him.

Steve eyed him warily.

"Would you rather I did it?" he asked, cocking his gun.

The super soldier reluctantly leaned forward, inspecting her while he did so. She didn't seem hurt. There was no blood and there were hardly any bruises – she was just dirty. "Tania," he whispered. "Tania, can you hear me?"

Her voice had served to wake him when the sirens didn't, maybe his voice had the power to do the same?

On the ground, she groaned and rolled onto her back. She didn't wake. She thought she heard his voice but she needed to be sure. "Tania… wake up please."

There had always been something about his voice that just did things to her. When he was in Captain America mode, his voice turned her on. When he was jealous, his voice made her feel attracted to him (more so than usual). When he murmured to her softly, she felt protected and safe. When he was fighting with her, she felt small. When he was sad, his voice broke her heart. When he was excited, something about the way he said things made her feel excited too. Right now, his voice lacked emotion of any kind. That was what had set her off.

She blinked her eyed open and looked up at Steve's face. The glasses from his disguise had long seen been removed or destroyed but he still wore the wig, probably not having had the change to take it off yet. He was just as filthy as she was and still wore his fancy suit from the theatre. He looked at her worriedly.

She sent him a reassuring smile which he returned before a gunshot went off. Tania screamed and Steve threw his head back in pain, crying out before he caught himself and gnashed his teeth together. Blood seeped through his already soiled shirt in the exact same place as before and Steve's muscles jerked, aching to move, but he remained in the chair.

Tania whirled on Austerlitz and pushed herself to her feet. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

"Doctor's orders," he answered before whipping a first aid kit at her head. She managed to catch it just in time. "Take the bullet out. Unless you want it to close over top of it." His English wasn't very good.

He opened the door before slamming it closed behind him, echoing for an extra few seconds in the large metal room. The lights were still on though.

Tania didn't understand. Why shoot Steve only to patch him back up again? She looked down at the kit in her hands and paled. She had no idea how to do this. She inhaled deeply before kneeling on the ground and opening the case.

Inside was a variety of tools and supplies, the majority of which she didn't even know by name or purpose. She gulped.

"Grab… the tweezers," Steve wheezed, taking deep breaths and trying to mask the pain.

Tania did as she was told. "Do I just…?"

"Find the bullet… and take it out."

She stared at his bloody stomach warily. "Steve, I… I can't… No, I have to. Okay, I'm…" she swallowed nervously, "I'm going to try."

With shaking hands, she reached forward and lightly pulled at the fabric of Steve's shirt. She pushed away the lapels of his suit jacket before slowly unbuttoning his shirt all the way. When she peeled it from where it was stuck to his skin by blood, he hissed through his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked.

"It hasn't even started yet. Keep going."

She took a deep breath and nodded. The after effects of the drug she'd just been given were making her head feel woozy but she knew she had to do this. Her hands quaked as she grabbed the tweezers and slowly approached the hole from which the blood was still seeping. She couldn't take her time on this. He might bleed out and die.

With that in mind, Tania dove right in and began feeling around for the bullet. Steve was extremely tense but otherwise didn't make a sound. Every single muscle in his body was clenched tightly and his face was a little scrunched up.

"Got it!" she gently (at least she hoped) pulled out the tiny pellet and dropped it into a bag that had been provided in the kit.

"Burn it," he ordered immediately, his body relaxing slightly.

"Why?"

"My blood. We can't… let them have the… serum."

"Steve, if they wanted your blood they would have taken it by now."

"Precaution."

"Alright." She set it aside to burn later. "But first, we have to wrap you up. Although, I'm not sure how…"

Steve instructed her perfectly on how to wind the gauze around his torso while he bit down on another roll to prevent from screaming. When she was finally done and satisfied with her job, she took the baggie and the lighter and set it on fire before throwing it across the room. The floor was metal – it would not spread.

"Is there anything in there we can use to escape?" Steve asked, calming his breathing.

She shook her head. "No. I could use the lighter to burn the ropes off your ankles though, although your hands would still be restrained…"

"Do it."

"Okay…" She hesitantly held the lighter to the ropes. She watched as it caught fire and the flames spread, turning the rope to charred bits of yarn. As soon as it fell away from his ankle, he snuffed it out with his shoe. She repeated the process for the other leg.

"Thanks," he told her after she was done.

She didn't answer, instead choosing to pack up the medical kit.

"Tania?"

She slammed the case shut. "Why?" Her voice was broken and raw and Steve wished more than anything that he could wrap his arms around her – but he couldn't.

"Why what?" he whispered.

"Why did he do that?"

"You mean shoot me?"

She nodded.

"It's simple. Pain. Their form of torture, I guess."

Her breathing became erratic as she turned away from him. "Those heartless bastards."

"Tania-"

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry." When she turned back to him, her face was streaked with tears. "I started that whole fight at the theatre. It's my fault we're here. And now two of our own might be dead and we're trapped here and they're torturing you and I just-"She sobbed and covered her mouth. "I'm so sorry!" She buried her face in her hands and cried.

Steve watched with a heavy heart. He felt the same amount of guilt she did. It was because she was his girlfriend that she had been caught up in this mess in the first place. Not only that, but he should never have let her come. He knew how risky and dangerous it was and yet he had been convinced to have her tag along. How naïve he'd been.

He nudged his knee gently with his foot and she looked up at him. "Come here," he whispered. She obliged and scooted closer. He jerked his head in the direction of his lap and she eyed him warily. "You won't hurt me," he promised.

Reluctantly, she pulled herself to her feet before settling herself in his lap. She wrapped her hands around his neck and cried into it softly, being careful to stay away from his stomach, for which he was grateful.

Hating that his hands were restrained, he simply nuzzled the top of her head and kissed it before closing his eyes. "We'll get through this," he whispered in her ear. "The others will come for us."

He had to give her hope. She needed something to hold onto if she was going to survive this. She tilted her head up to look at him. The sight of her tear-covered face broke his heart and he longed to hold her to him and never let go.

She sniffled and reached up, her hand crawling up the back of his neck and slipping the tips of her fingers beneath the wig he had forgotten he was wearing. She peeled it off to reveal his actual blonde hair and tossed the wig to the side before running her hands through it.

He closed his eyes and sighed in contentment. He always loved it when she did that. There was something immediately calming about it, in the way she caressed his scalp and stroked his hair.

Her index finger brushed his ear and at first he thought it was an accident. Then it brushed it again and he opened one eye to look at her quizzically. Her eyes flicked over to his ear a couple times before he got the message.

The comms. He opened his mouth to ask her about it when she shook her head slightly. 'Cameras' she mouthed.

Oh. He nodded in understanding. She rested her head against his shoulder. "I wonder if Jarvis is helping the others with the search," she said aloud.

"That I am, Miss Banks and Captain Rogers."

Steve almost smiled. He would have too, if he hadn't been on camera at that point in time. It might have given something away. Instead, he rubbed his cheek into her hair and closed his eyes again.

"Might I suggest concocting a plan, Captain?"

Steve bit back the urge to chuckle. The AI was as dry and sarcastic as ever.

He began humming the tune of his old theme song from way back when. He only prayed that Tania knew the title and maybe some of the lyrics so that she could decode his answer to JARVIS' question.

_Who'll rise or fall, give his all for America?_  
_Who's here to prove that we can?_  
_The Star Spangled Man with a plan!_


	24. Chapter 23

**A/N. Hola :) I present to you, the triumphant return of Peter Parker! As promised. Enjoy :D**

CHAPTER XXIII  
Peter Parker strolled around the helicarrier with a skip in his step and a whistling tune on his lips. You could still see the lipstick smear just under the collar of his hoodie.

After joining SHIELD in late September, Peter had become an immediate trainee and began training to become a full-fledged agent on the helicarrier after school on weekdays. Suffice to say, he was enjoying himself and showing up the other trainees.

He had a math quiz that "wasn't worth any marks" that morning so he just decided to skip it and get in some more training. But then his girlfriend Gwen caught him ditching and they had an argument before they ended up making out in the janitor's closet. And now he didn't really feel up to training anymore. But he was already here, so he just wandered around aimlessly, bizarrely cheery.

He passed by the door to the meeting room without a care.

"… get Tania and Steve back…"

He paused. What? He backtracked and pressed his ear to the door. He didn't hear anything. Had he just imagined it? Only one way to find out. He opened the door and peeked his head inside. "What is this I hear about Tania and the Captain being gone?"

Director Fury stood at the head of the table while Tony, Clint, Natasha (who had her arm in a sling), Bruce, and Thor all sat around it looking at projections.

"Mr. Parker,-" Fury started.

"Not you." The teenager interrupted. "You won't tell me. Someone else."

"Tania and Steve-"Clint began before he was interrupted.

"-were kidnapped by HYDRA," Bruce continued, ignoring Fury and Clint's glares in his direction. He shrugged at the archer. "In being a SHIELD agent and all, you would get in trouble by revealing this 'secret'. Me, not so much."

Clint nodded his thanks.

Peter's eyes widened. "Woah! Rewind! My boss and her boyfriend were kidnapped?"

"Yeah," Tony responded dryly, taking another sip from his water bottle which probably didn't have water in it, but rather alcohol.

"Excuse me," Fury intercepted, a vain practically throbbing out of his forehead, "but the only boss you have is me. Now I would appreciate it if you would go back to wherever you just came from so that we can continue."

Peter rolled his eyes and stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind him. "Whatever. Old boss. Happy now?" Without waiting for Fury's answer, he continued. "I want to help."

"No."

"Marvelous!" Thor cheered.

"Absolutely not. 'Spider-man' is NOT a part of the Avengers Initiative."

"But we could use all the help we could get," Bruce pointed out.

Fury grumbled a reply that no one could understand.

"I don't like the kid either Jack Sparrow, but Bruce is right. He could be useful," Tony conceded.

"Thank you!" Peter exclaimed, walking closer. "I think…" He plopped down in the one empty seat left, the one usually reserved for Steve. No one mentioned it.

"Okay, catch me up."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Peter was caught up and the Avengers were back to square one. The only thing they had accomplished that morning was figure out that Tania and Steve's faces had last been seen at the Tower before they went to the theatre. Not helpful.

"Jarvis, I know this is a long shot, but I need you to tell me about any suspicious activity that you think I should know about since Tania and Steve announced their relationship to the public," Tony tried, running out of ideas

The AI hesitated. "Well… there is this." JARVIS activated the holographic projection screens built into the table the Avengers sat around to bring up the surveillance feed of September fifth.

"What is this?" Tony asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"This is the security footage at your mansion on the fifth of September, two thousand and twelve."

"Why are you-?"

"Please Sir, just watch." JARVIS played the video.

The footage was of the secluded room in Tony's basement opposite his workshop and underneath the stairwell. It was a room none of the Avengers had seen. They watched in interest as Tania entered the room.

She appeared to be lost and looked around, touching some things here and there before she stepped on a tarp and revealed a very large contraption. Tony's eyebrows rose but he didn't comment. He watched as she touched the machine and it activated.

All of the Avengers sat at full attention when a tornado began to form in the room and the machine started glowing blue. Tania fell to the floor and grabbed hold of a book shelf to stop herself from being pulled toward the contraption.

Just then, Steve entered the room only to be pulled down as well. They watched as they reached toward each other, fingers just barely brushing when a bright blue light engulfed them both. When it disappeared, so had they.

Everyone gasped. "But how-?!" Clint started.

"Keep watching," JARVIS interrupted. He continued playing the video.

For several seconds, nothing happened. But then Tania reappeared in completely different clothes and on her knees, crying hysterically. She pushed herself to her feet and ran out of sight of the camera.

"What the hell?" Tony muttered just as Steve reappeared lying on his stomach and unconscious. The past Captain looked around, dazed. He sat there for a few seconds before he started talking, presumably to JARVIS. He nodded his head before rushing off in the direction Tania had gone.  
JARVIS stopped the video and disabled the projection. "I thought this qualified as 'suspicious'."

"Damn right…"

"Care to explain, Stark?" Fury asked, one eyebrow raised.

Ignoring him, Tony spoke directly to JARVIS. "J, pause the video at three seconds."

"Yes, Sir." The super computer did as told.

"That," Tony pointed at the contraption, "is my dad's time machine."

Startled gasps met his ears as everyone gaped at him and the screen.

"Are you suggesting they time travelled for an indeterminate amount of time and then somehow found a way back?" Bruce asked, astonished.

"It's not impossible. I mean, look at us: a mismatched bunch of misfits from other worlds, who are mutants, who have inhuman skills, who have inhuman intelligences, the list goes on and on."

"I am confused, Man of Iron," Thor confessed, arms crossed.

"Steve and Tania must have accidentally activated the long dormant time machine my father built not long after Steve's disappearance. I never thought it would actually work, so I stuffed it in the basement. The two of them must have gotten lost or something and found it."

"Don't you think they would have told us?" Natasha pointed out.

"Depends on where they went."

"Hey," Clint piped up, "Didn't Jarvis say this was September the fifth?"

"Indeed I did, Sir."

"Isn't that the night they slept together for the first time?"

Peter wrinkled his nose. "I SO didn't need to know that."

"How do you remember that?" Tony asked, referring to Clint.

He shrugged. "Good memory."

"Jarvis," Tony called his AI to attention, "show me the surveillance from Tania's bedroom that night."

"I thought the bedrooms didn't have cameras," Natasha said with narrowed eyes.

"That changed after the whole 'Neil' incident."

"Stark…" she growled threateningly.

"Shush! Look!"

"He looks like he's apologizing," Peter observed.

"She looks relieved," Natasha pointed out.

"Aaaaaaand now they're gonna have sex. Tony, turn it off." Clint waited. The video didn't stop. "Tony!" He whipped a pencil sharpener at the inventor's head.

"Ow! Alright, alright. We'll give Capsicle and Piggy Bank their privacy. Go back to the time machine, Jarvis."

"On it, Sir."

"Zoom in on the date."

"May fifteenth, nineteen forty-five," Peter read aloud.

"That's a week after VE day," Natasha stated.

"A week after the war ended," Clint joined in.

"A week after Steve crashed the plane," Bruce spoke up.

"If this machine sent them to another time, yet the machine itself remained in our time, how did the Captain and his lady return?" Thor inquired, confused.

"Excellent question Hammer Time. That was probably a glitch on Howard's part: a one way trip time machine."

"But if Howard was the one who built it, then he could have built them another one," Bruce theorized.

"Or the same one. But who knows how long that took him. It could have been years."

"So they were sucked back into the past… almost exactly where Steve left off," Natasha mused.

"But he came back," Clint added right after.

"Why?"

"Love," Tony said like the answer was obvious.

"What?"

"It's simple, Natashalie. He loves Tania, Tania wanted to go back, or rather forward, so he followed her."

"Peggy Carter was in that timeline."

"Well obviously he chose Tania considering what happened immediately afterward."

"That must have been so hard for both of them…" Peter wondered aloud.

"Especially Steve," Bruce agreed.

"But they both seemed fine, happier even, the next morn, did they not?"

"Probably because they found a way to get back. There's no way they were there for over a year – not enough change in their faces," Natasha told them.

"Even so, why didn't they tell us?" Clint muttered, a hand on his chin in thought.

"More importantly, why didn't YOU tell me, Jarvis?" Tony looked to the supercomputer (or at least, at the table).

"Their disappearance wasn't long enough to warrant distress. I did a full body scan of both of them and they were not suffering anything serious."

"What do you mean by, 'anything serious'?" Clint asked.

"Both Captain Rogers and Miss Banks had several minor scars, scratches, and bruises as well as small signs of emotional trauma or distress, but moments later, they displayed signs of extreme pleasure and joy."

"Jarvis…" Tony said exasperatedly.

"Forgive me, Sir. I did not mean to keep secrets from you. But you did not ask."

"So let me get this straight," Fury intercepted, trying to make sense of the situation, "Stark has a fully-functioning time machine, has had one for seventy years now, and didn't know about it?"

"That is correct."

"And I don't have one anymore. It's buried at the bottom of the ocean right now along with the rest of my mansion," Tony pointed out.

"Well this is all NOT fine and dandy, but how does this help find Rogers and Banks?"

"Well," Tony said, standing up and pacing the room, "I suppose if I dug up some stuff, I can see if they interacted with my father. Maybe he had some record of some sort. It's not much, but it's something."

"I'll help," Bruce volunteered, standing as well.

"Wait, maybe I can help too?" Peter said just as they were about to leave.

The Science Bros exchanged glances. "How old are you again?" Tony wanted to know.

"Um, twenty?"

"Nice try kid."

He sighed before giving his real age.

"A teenager huh? Still in school?"

"Yeah…"

"Marks?"

"High. Honour roll high. Especially in science."

"Fine. Come along."

"Yes!"

After the three of them left, Clint and Natasha decided to go back to the theatre and interrogate the security team there, or at least the employees, to see if anyone had seen them. This too, was a long shot, but it was all they had.

Thor left to see if he could summon himself to Asgard and speak to Heimdall, who saw everything. He would have a hard time convincing his father to let him return, he knew, when it was not the designated time. He and Odin had created a very specific schedule so that Thor could spend his time on both Asgard (on which time moved differently) and Midgard equally. If he returned to his first home now, his father would wish to rearrange the entire schedule to add more time on Midgard. It was a little foolish and stubborn in Thor's opinion, but that was the way his father was sometimes. It would be hard to convince him to destroy their perfectly arranged schedule for the lives of a couple puny mortals that Odin had yet to meet, had yet to see the true value of. Still, Thor do all he could. He would not let Friend Steve and the Lady Tania suffer because of the allfather's stubbornness. He wouldn't.

* * *

Back at the Tower, Felicity was driving the others INSANE. Unable to hide the news from the mother of victim, Pepper had been forced to retell the tale to Graham, Betty, and Felicity. Everyone had been horrified except for the person who should care the most – Felicity.

She had brushed it off before abruptly leaving, angering the others. By the next morning, while the others grieved, she talked loudly on the cell phone at the breakfast table and Graham had finally just had enough,

"Would you turn that fucking phone off and leave us in peace? I don't even know what you're doing here if you don't care about us!" he snapped.  
She clicked her phone shut. "The luxury of course. Why else?"

Graham clenched his fists and whirled on his mother. "You cold hearted bitch!" he shouted. "My sister, YOUR daughter, has just been kidnapped by a secret Nazi organisation that specializes in weapons and who's main goal is to get revenge on Steve through Tania, and YOU DON'T. FUCKING. CARE!"

"Graham," Pepper said, placing a hand on his arm. She shook her head at him. "Let her go."

"I want her gone!" he hissed, positively seething.

"Fine!" Felicity said, throwing her hands into the air. "I can see when I'm not wanted. I'll be where the rest of this champagne is, so if you need me, don't come there." She sauntered off while both Betty AND Pepper had to pull on Graham's arms to hold him back.

When Felicity was gone, the women let go and Graham fell to his knees, panting hard. "I can't believe she's gone – again." He was obviously referring to his sister and not his estranged mother.

Betty sat down beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Graham, I'm sure the others will get her back."

"You can't know that!" he exclaimed, pounding his fist on the floor with a grunt. "I just feel so useless, stuck here because I'm not an Avenger. Clint, Natasha, and Tony don't have anything special about them except they've been trained to use things like suits and weapons. So why can't I join them? I can use a gun!"

"I don't think it works like that," Pepper said quietly as she sat down on his other side in the lounge. "They all work for SHIELD."

"What if I joined SHIELD? Then I could help, right?"

Pepper and Betty shared a worried look. "I'm not so sure you'd want to do that," the brunette argued.

"Why not? It will be worth it if I get to help Tania."

"It's a vigorous training program and once you're in, you're stuck for life. Take it from me. Phil, Clint, and Natasha have all told me things about this kind of stuff. None of them wanted to join SHIELD. SHIELD recruited them because they had nowhere else to go and because their skills were unparalleled. It would be like joining the military."

Graham was silent for a rather long time. Finally, he sighed and rested his chin in his hands. "Gals, don't tell Tania this, but I've been thinking about joining the army for some time now."

"What?!" both girls exclaimed.

"If I did, I'd probably be shipped off to Afghanistan. But if I joined SHIELD, then I could stay here AND be in a military like environment."

"But why would you want to join the military?" Pepper wondered aloud.

"You know that the Avengers are my heroes, right? That I've read all their comic books since I was a kid?"

She nodded. "Yes, of course I do. When you first met them, you asked them all to sign your comic books."

He smiled a little in memory. "Yeah, good times. But anyway, ever since I got my first comic book, all I've ever wanted to do is be like them. Heroes. At first, it was about the glory and the fame, but as I got older, I came to realize that being hero just meant helping people because it's the right thing to do. When I was sixteen, I toyed with the idea of joining the army, fighting for my country and protecting people. But then I pushed the idea aside because I was too scared. Now that I'm older, I… I think I'm finally ready."

"But what about your dreams of being an architect?" Betty questioned.

Graham shrugged. "I'll be one when I get back."

"IF, you come back," Pepper corrected.

"Oh, I'm coming back," a grin split across his face before he remembered Tania and it quickly fell. "But I'm not deciding anything until I get my sister back."

"Well, there must be something we can do that doesn't involve joining SHIELD," Betty mused. "We're a nuclear scientist, a CEO, and an architect to be. Plus, we have a really very intelligent system." She pointed to the ceiling.

"Thank you, Mrs. Banner," JARVIS spoke up.

"As far as I know, the other Avengers have no idea where Steve and Tania have gone off to. Maybe we can put our heads together and figure something out."

"Let's go to the main lab and get to work," Betty agreed, pushing herself to her feet, soon followed by Graham.

Pepper was the last to get up, and when she did, her phone rang. "I'll catch up with you guys in sec."

"Okay," they chorused before heading to the elevator together.

Pepper answered her phone. "You've reached Pepper Potts of Stark Industries, how may I help you?"

"Pepper! It's so good to hear your voice."

The red head grimaced. This was the absolute worst possible time for this kind of thing. "What do you want Hammer?"

"Now that's not a very nice thing to say. We haven't seen each other since the gala!"

"You mean the one you crashed and ruined with your little paparazzi stunt?"

"Yes!"

She rolled her eyes. "Again, I repeat, what do you want?"

"I've been trying to contact Anthony all day, but so far all of my attempts have failed. I knew you, gracious, beautiful, elegant Pepper, would answer the phone." Pepper rolled her eyes even harder into the back of her head. The suck-up. "Where is he, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Actually, Justin, I DO mind."

"Really? Hm. Well then, can I just ask you something else?"

"What is it?"

"My, my, someone is feeling especially rude today."

"Get to the point before I hang up."

"How would you feel if I recorded this conversation and sent it to one Christine Everheart?"

Pepper's eyes widened and she gripped the phone tighter. "You wouldn't."

"Oh you're right, I wouldn't. But I could if I wanted to."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Just that you'd better watch your back Virginia. Hammer Industries' stocks are skyrocketing since your little 'incident' with the President."

"Do us all a favour and shove those stocks up your pompous ass because no one cares about your company anymore. And you know what? I don't care if you send this conversation to Ms. Everheart or any reporter for that matter. It will just show the world how much of an obnoxious dick you really are." She pressed the End Call button a little harder than was necessary and huffed, stuffing her phone in her purse before marching over to the elevator to join the others.


	25. Chapter 24

**A/N. Hiya everybody :) so here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER XXIV

While Tony, Bruce, Peter, and a little bit of JARVIS spent the entire day and most of the night trying to find the location of their friends and not succeeding, Clint and Natasha went straight to the theatre and didn't even bother with disguises. In fact, their recognizable faces as Avengers would most likely help in this situation.

Dressed in their SHIELD uniforms and armed to the tee, the two of them recruited Happy to drive them to the theatre. Within the night, Fury had sent several SHIELD agents to clean up the mess of murdered HYDRA agents without anyone noticing and to re-establish the security without the staff's knowledge of it ever having been disabled. Clintasha arrived just as Agent Sitwell was exiting the building. They exchanged what they knew in French so that no one could understand and shook hands before passing by each other as if they had never seen one another.

Happy, on the other and, had been given the low down in the car and wanted to help in any way he could. The agents had told him to return to the Tower and do his job: Protect Pepper. So he did just that.

Hawkeye and Black Widow kicked the large double doors open as one entity and strolled inside, trying to look intimidating – it wasn't hard, especially since Natasha had thrown her sling in the garbage as soon as she'd left the helicarrier.

Everyone inside, mostly employees, jumped and looked shocked and scared at their entrance. Clint held his bow at the ready and Natasha had guns in her holsters as well as a utility belt loaded with weapons.

Natasha was furious. She had been shot and not only had it hurt like hell, but it was because she was distracted for a moment that they had gotten to her. She was getting soft. But softness is what made her care, made the others care for her. She cared about Tania and Steve and the others and she loathed the thought of harm coming to any of them. She would personally kill anyone who literally considered that idea for one second with her bare hands. She was determined to get Steve and Tania back. While the Captain was an admirable leader and a great person and friend, his girlfriend had made several valiant efforts at befriending her and had succeeded for the most part. She couldn't deny that she had grown closer to both her and Pepper within the last several months and very much enjoyed their bi-weekly spa days. She also couldn't deny the little spark of jealousy when she'd been sent that picture of Betty practically taking her place but she shrugged it off. It was just one more person to worm their way under her skin, under her umbrella of softness and care. What was one more person when there were already so many? So yes, Natasha was determined to get her two friends back – no matter what.

They walked straight up to the manager who appeared to be sweating and… cowering? "We need you to answer a few questions for us," Clint told him, twirling his arrow against his bowstring while he held it leisurely in front of him pointing at the floor.

The manager whose name tag read, "Mike C." quaked in his boots and he ran a hand over his bald head nervously. "Ah… what for? Mr. Hawkeye, Sir?"

"Were you present last night during the last showing of the Wizard of Oz?" Natasha asked, arms crossed and face stone cold.

"Uh… um, yes?"

"No need to be nervous," Clint reassured, "we won't hurt you." He twirled the arrow again and smirked before stabbing it back into his quiver. He was enjoying this a little too much.

"Of course not, what super hero would do that?" Mike tried to assure himself.

"What super hero, indeed," Natasha mumbled loud enough for both of them to hear. "Where were you, exactly?"

"I was behind the counter?" he answered like a question, like if he said something wrong they would kill him on the spot.

Clint and Natasha exchanged looks, reading each other's minds in that one glance and nodded once. "Follow us," he ordered before Natasha turned and headed towards the room that they had fought in last night. Clint nodded his head in her direction and Mike gulped before following her with the archer close behind.

The other witnesses around whispered and gossiped to each other, but no one dared approach the famed Blackhawk, as they had been dubbed by the press. Others called them NaCl. It was a long list of couple names. The Avengers mostly referred to them as Clintasha.

The trio eventually ended up in the meeting room that had been cleaned up and had its furniture replaced hours prior. Clint grabbed the man's shoulder and pushed him down into one of the chairs before spinning him around to face him. The man had a natural dark complexion, but right now you wouldn't be able to tell because he was so pale.

"Mike," Natasha started, walking back and forth in front of him while Clint stood off to the side, bow still in front of him, ready to fire at a moment's notice. "We need you to answer some questions for us, okay? That's it. Just questions."

"O-okay?"

Natasha had to refrain from rolling her eyes. She reached into her belt and pulled out a folded picture of Arnold Austerlitz. She outstretched her hand towards him and he shoved the chair backwards, hitting the table roughly. She raised both eyebrows but didn't comment, slowly pushing the photo further forward.

He eyed it warily before accepting it. He unfolded it slowly. "Do you recognize this man? Was he here last night?"

Mike stared at the picture for a few moments and swallowed nervously, adjusting his collar. He was sweating like a pig. "Um, yes, I… I recognize him." Good. Maybe they were getting somewhere. "He and another man approached me a few days ago-"

"When?" Clint interrupted.

"O-on Friday-"

"Time?"

"Umm… I-I don't know!"

"Fine. Go on."

"Well… they asked to book one of the rooms. Uh, the meeting rooms! This was rather unusual and I told him they weren't f-for rent. He offered up… well… he… uh…"

"What did he offer you?" Natasha prodded.

"Um, a very large sum of money?"

"How much?"

"… two grand?"

"And then?"

"I… well I accepted the offer. He told me to keep the room off limits to anyone except for those who knew the password for two weeks and I … well I listened to him."

"What was the password?"

"Skrulled. It's a weird password if you ask me, but… that's what it was. I'm sure of it."

Natasha looked behind her to Clint and they both knew immediately why that was the password. If you rearranged the letters a little bit, it spelled out Red Skull. She turned back to the manager.

"Did you ever speak to them again?"

"No. He asked not to be disturbed or spoken to. Actually, he asked that none of them be disturbed or spoken to. Most of them didn't speak English anyway. They spoke German. I-I think."

"This man," she gestured to the photo, "was he here last night?"

"Not that I know of, but it's very possible."

"Are they coming back?"

"I-I don't think so. I haven't seen them since last night."

"So they're gone?"

"I would assume so."

"Can you describe to me this man you've been talking about?"

"Um… I don't have that good a memory…"

"Try. Please."

"Um, well, okay. Um, he had a thick German accent and um… was very tall. Taller than me, definitely. At least six feet. He had bright red hair, kind of… shaggy, I guess the kids call it these days, and he wore blood red contacts. He had what looked like an unhealthy association with that colour. He wasn't here last night, at least… not that I know of."

"Did he say his name?"

"Um… I don't think so. But for some reason, the letter D comes to mind."

"David? Drake? Daniel? Danny? Dan?"

"Dick? Diablo? Devil?" Natasha turned and gave her partner a look. He merely shrugged. "What? He was asking for it with all the red and stuff."

She rolled her eyes but turned back to Mike. "Any of those names ring a bell?"

He shook his head. "No. It was none of those. I… I still don't think he told me his name."

"… alright, well thank you for your time."

He looked extremely relieved and handed back the picture. "It's no problem. Whatever I can do to help the Avengers."

"If you ever remember anything vitally important about those men, go to Avengers Tower. There is a computerized voice who will ask you your purpose. Just tell them you want to speak with Pepper Potts and that Black Widow and Hawkeye sent you. She'll let you in and you tell her everything you know. Got it?"

"Uh huh," he nodded his head vigorously.

"Good. Let's go Clint."

"Right."

He followed her out of the room, but not before turning and saluting Mike while walking backwards and turning around again to face forward.  
The manager used his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his brow and breathed a sigh of relief. That had been nerve wracking.

Outside in the cold afternoon air, Clint kicked over a trash can in frustration. "Ugh! That got us nothing!"

He felt like a failure. An utter failure. He'd brought Tania into the line of fire once, he had been determined not to do it again. But then he had. And this time, he hadn't been enough. He'd brought her in this stupid mission in the first place and now she AND Steve were gone. It was all his fault. He knew himself to be one of those people who blamed themselves for everything, who felt guilty for things they couldn't control, but he couldn't help it. It was a part of who he was. He couldn't change it. So the guilt that gnawed at his stomach every second that two members of his fucking Avengers family (and let's face it, his only family) were missing. Gone. Kidnapped. Captured. Taken. Whisked away. Maybe even killed. He wanted to put an arrow through every one of those HYDRA bastards' eyes and then do it again and again until all you could see of their bodies through all the arrows was bits and pieces of their clothing. Oh how satisfying that would be. But until then, he would just have to keep trying to find the woman who felt like his sister and the man that was like… the best man at his would-be wedding! He would fail a million times if it meant he could find them eventually, safe and sound. He would do anything to get them back. Even make deals with this so-called "Devil" they appeared to be dealing with.

"_Litterbug._" Natasha's accusation snapped him out of his train of thought and it took him a second to realize she had spoken in Russian.  
He sighed. _"The press are coming,_" he answered in the same tongue.

_"I know."_

_"We should go."_

_"I know."_

_"Where are we going?"_

_"We're going for a walk."_

_"A walk? A walk where?_

_"A walk to one of the SHIELD bases. Right after you pick up that garbage."_

_"Aw, come on!"_

* * *

Around the same time, at the top of Avengers Tower, Thor teleported onto the helipad using his lightning while in full battle armor. He looked up to the sky. "Heimdall, if I cannot come to Asgard, allow me to see a sign of some sort!" he boomed toward the clouds.

Lightning flashed in the sky. Thor laughed. "I will take that as permission to come!" He raised Mjolnir to the heavens and looked up. Another bolt of lightning zapped his hammer and he grinned. He always loved this feeling. A great circle of power surrounded him and the clouds mashed together above as he felt the connection to the rainbow bridge.

His grip tightened just as he felt a huge power surge and heard a clap of thunder. For one exhilarating moment, he was freefalling. But then his feet met solid ground and he bent his knees to soften his fall. He laughed in joy and looked around him.

Ah, Asgard. He had missed it. It had been almost two months Midgardian time since he had last seen it. He took in the fantastic glory of his realm and sighed. This would always be his true home.

He approached Heimdall, who leaned against his staff and stared at nothing and yet saw everything. The Guardian of Worlds, he was.

"Heimdall, my friend," Thor greeted with a hefty pat to the shoulder.

"You seek information from me," he stated, staring straight ahead. "You should not have come."

"My friends are in great peril," Thor told him gravely, his smile dissolving when he thought of his friends. They could be dead for all he knew. His hold on his hammer became exceedingly tight; so much so that his knuckles were turning a deathly shade of white. They could not be dead! He refused to believe so! He would fight until his dying breath for them. He would save them if it was the last thing he did.

"I know. I have seen it."

"You must tell me where they are!" the thunder God demanded.

"I cannot."

"Why?"

"The Allfather has forbidden it."

Thor reeled back. "My father? For what reason has he ordered such a thing?"

"He fears that you meddle with the affairs of mortals too much for your own good. You are not the Prince of Midgard; it is your duty to protect the humans, not to rule them."

"I mean not to rule them, Friend. I mean only to save those who are in danger. I mean to protect those who protect others."

"That is not why you wish to save them."

"It is not the only reason, I confess. They mean a great deal to me. They are part of a rather large family that have accepted me as one of their own."

"I know. I have seen it."

"Then why do you not understand the urgency of my request?"

"I understand, Thor, son of Odin. It is your father who does not. I cannot disobey him."

"Heimdall… allow me to deal with the King. I shall accept punishment for my actions later, but I need to help my friends – my second family."

"Thor, you cannot do that. I cannot do that. Please understand-"

"Then I will go to my father this instant!" Thor boomed, angrily beginning to march away.

Heimdall's hand shot out and gripped his elbow with surprising force. His head had yet to move. "He cannot know of your presence here. He will be angry."

"I can take his wrath."

"I know. But when he is angry, he is unreasonable. He will never let you leave."

"So you are saying that it is hopeless? That I cannot help them?"

"No. I am saying that I cannot tell you their location. But the others, the ones you call Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Pepper Potts, Betty Banner, Graham Banks, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Nick Fury, and many others are out there looking. Perhaps you should join them."

There was a long silence. "Perhaps you are right," Thor admitted, resigned. His shoulders slumped and he stared down at his feet.

"I am sorry." Another pause filled the space. "They are alive."

Thor looked up curiously. "Who?"

"Your missing friends. They are alive. They are burdened with sadness, but they are together and they are strong. They plan to escape. One is hurt, but he is not dying."

"Steve Rogers," Thor breathed, noting Heimdall's use of the word, 'he'. "How long do I have?"

"It is hard to say. The enemy does not appear to have any immediate plans to kill them. But plans change in the blink of an eye."

"Thank you Heimdall."

"You should go. It has already been almost a full day on Midgard. The one you call Bruce Banner appears to have discovered something."

"Thank you. To everyone else, I was never here."

"Who was never here?" He quirked his head and pulled back his hand to rest on the staff before returning to the same position as before, still as a statue.

Thor smirked. "No one." He twirled his hammer several times before raising it skyward and disappearing in a flash.

Not three seconds after he left did the Lady Sif enter the chamber. "Doth my eyes deceive me or was that the Prince?" she asked as she came down the steps in her battle armour.

Heimdall's lips twitched. "No, milady. He is on Midgard; where he is needed."


	26. Chapter 25

**A/N. Hi :) Nice long chapter with... not so nice content. It's beautifully written though! At least in my opinion. I'm really proud of how this turned out so I really hope you enjoy it too :D**

CHAPTER XXV

It's been two days since the attack. At least, that's what Steve's internal clock is telling him. Two days since they have been missing and they have yet to be found. They must be hidden really well for the Avengers not to have discovered their location yet. Or really far…

Unfortunately, with being knocked out for almost a whole day, Steve knows a part of his time on Earth is missing from his memory. Well, he doesn't remember because he was unconscious. How they managed that was beyond him… his body burned off drugs and alcohol and all sorts of things around four times faster than the average human. They either gave him some sort of super drug or gave him a HUGE dose or maybe several huge doses of regular drugs. It is presumably because of these drugs that he doesn't know what time it is. Normally his internal clock would be able to tell him almost perfectly the hour of each day, but right now is different.

There are no windows. There is no connection to the outside world. There are no clocks. There is no sun. There is no sky. There are no stars to help point him in some direction like North. The lights had gone out and they therefore could not read the time of their pocket watches. Tania's phone had died some time ago. It's probably some point on the eleventh.

They've been there for two days. HYDRA soldiers take turns coming in and giving them food. There's a bucket in the corner and Tania is painfully reminded of the cell in Neil's crazy freak house. They came in and shot him again a little earlier. He was more prepared that time and didn't make a sound – but it still hurt like he couldn't even explain.

Tania was forced to patch him up again. It was in the same place too. And she cried while removing the bullet with the same, shaky hands. It became understood that this was going to be a daily thing. Come in every morning and shoot Captain America in the exact same place as before. Make him suffer through it.

Tania had likened it to a Greek myth. With nothing better to do, she told him the story in great detail and he'd listened, wondering if it had anything to do with Thor. She'd laughed and told him that that was completely different. That it was Norse mythology. He'd blushed and she'd laughed again and that's when he knew that things were still okay. They were bloodied (he more so than her, thank goodness) and bruised and trapped but they had hope and they had a plan but most importantly, they had each other. As long as they were together, they could get through this. That guy in the myth? He had no one.

That guy was named Prometheus. From what Tania remembered, she'd said that Prometheus was a Titan. He was the one to create humans. Although Steve didn't believe that one bit, Tania reminded him that it was myth, not belief. She'd said that Prometheus wanted to give them the gift of fire, but the God of all Gods, Zeus, did not want to give them something so dangerous. Prometheus loved his creations, and therefore wanted to give them all he could and help them evolve. He stole fire from the Gods and bestowed it upon the mortals. When Zeus found out, he punished Prometheus severely by chaining him to a mountain for eternity. That wasn't all. He sent an eagle to eat his liver and tear it from his body. Prometheus, in being a Titan, was immortal, and therefore could not die. So when his liver was taken, he would grow it back. But then the next day, the eagle would return and do it again. This was his punishment: eternal torment of having his liver ripped from his body by an animal for the rest of his days.

"Did he ever escape?" Steve had asked once the story had been told. It was eerily similar to his own situation. Except he wasn't alone. He was restrained, like Prometheus, and forced into torment every day as they knew he would heal by nightfall. Prometheus had been tortured because he'd gone against orders and done what he believed should have been done in the first place. Steve was being tortured because he'd killed the HYDRA leader, something he had also believed to be right, but the HYDRA followers, did not.

Tania had turned her head to look at him from her position on his lap and stared directly into his eyes. "No." For one horrible moment, Steve's heart plummeted to the ground. But then he remembered that he wasn't Prometheus. His situation was different. He had several very determined people out there looking for him. And he wasn't immortal. And he wasn't alone. But then Tania continued speaking and even though he knew there was absolutely no connection between their stories besides similarities, he felt more hope than he'd felt in the past forty-eight hours. "But he was rescued eventually by a man named Hercules."

"I've heard of him. He was the really strong guy, right?"

She'd laughed. He vowed to make her laugh every day so that she wouldn't lose hope. Even if part of his reason for doing so was mostly selfish. Her laugh gave _him_ hope. It was enlightening and enriching and he found himself becoming addicted to it. It was his sunlight in this dark chamber of torture. It was a drug that he _wanted_ to become addicted to. "Yes, he was the really strong one. I don't suppose you've seen the Disney movie?"

"Can't say that I have."

"Well, there isn't much to tell you about the rescue. Hercules was on this giant quest and he came across Prometheus accidentally. He freed him and that's all I know. I don't even know if I'm remembering this right. I could be totally wrong, I could have some of the details mixed up but I know I'm mostly right."

It had been his turn to laugh. It felt good. It felt good to know that even though these HYDRA bastards had him hand cuffed to a chair that he was still on top because he had Tania and he was happy (every once in a while; you know, when he wasn't in pain from being shot or being spoon fed what tasted like barf) and he knew that they hadn't gotten the best of him. But that was about to change.

Back in the present, on January eleventh (he presumed), the door to their private chamber was thrown open, smashing against the wall roughly and echoing throughout the room loudly. Both occupants cringed but didn't cover their ears. It was a pride thing.

When their eyes adjusted to the new lighting, there were two men standing in the doorway. One was Austerlitz. The other… well, if Steve ever had to describe what the devil looked like as a human, this would be it.

The man appeared to be in his early thirties, maybe late twenties, with red hair similar in colour to Natasha's. It was long for a boy and covered one eye completely just with his bangs. His ears were also hidden behind all the straight strands. He was tall too, probably around Graham's height, maybe a bit shorter. He was definitely taller than Steve. He wore a black coat similar to Fury's and black and red leather accents on his clothing that Steve honestly couldn't tell you what exactly he was wearing. It was just red and black. But what really set off the look was that one, blood red eye. Oh, and the twisted, demonic, grin on his face.

He walked in with a purpose with his hands behind his back and Austerlitz followed, eyeing Steve and Tania warily. He gripped his machine gun tightly in both hands and stood no more than three feet away from the man in red at all times. Probably a guard. Which meant that the red guy was probably the head honcho around here. Great…

Tania stood up from her position next to his chair where she'd been sleeping with her head on his thighs (it didn't look very comfortable but she hardly ever stopped touching him – it was like she was scared to be too far away from him so she made sure to be in physical contact at all times. He wasn't complaining. He felt the same way. If he could move his numb arms he would have them around her at all times. It just felt safer that way). She stood with a hand on his right shoulder and a little behind the back of his chair, but not so much that he couldn't see her.  
The man in red smiled, but it really shouldn't be called a smile when it reminded him so much of the Devil. "I see you've gotten used to your new home," he said, gesturing around the room. He became immediately aware that the man had a thick German accent. What person in this place didn't? Honestly.

"This will never be our home," Tania bit back quietly. He was both proud of and scared for her. Speaking out was a bold move, which is where the pride came in. But speaking out also usually led to a lashing, usually physical. That was where the fear came into play.

"Of course, of course," Red Guy agreed as he began to circle them like a lion to its prey. Steve felt all his senses go on red alert. He was hyper aware of every move the guy and Austerlitz made. This was where his plan would come into action. It had to be in that time frame. Of course, with the cameras, he'd never been able to actually tell Tania his plan, but that was irrelevant. She knew he had one. That was all she really needed to know. Red Guy continued talking. "But figuratively speaking, you live here now, so literally it is your home."

"Define home," she challenged and he raised an eyebrow. Steve clenched his fists behind his back.

"Hmm…" he looked her up and down. "I can see why the Captain fell for you. Too bad it will be both his and your downfall."

In the blink of an eye, Austerlitz rushed forward and grabbed Tania, ripping her away from him. "No!" Steve shouted, struggling with his restraints harder than ever before.

To his left, Austerlitz placed a writhing Tania into a chair that had just been deposited by some random HYDRA agent before he fled and tied her there. She snarled at him but she was subdued nearly two feet away from him. She was so close but so far away.

Red Guy was now re-nicknamed the Devil in Steve's head. No one touched Tania like that and got away with it. No one. Austerlitz was now on his hit list. Every damn henchman in this joint was on his freaking hit list. He jerked his arms and barely felt the cold metal of the cuffs digging into his skin anymore. His arms had become limp noodles but he struggled to regain feeling as he watched the Devil approach his girlfriend.

"I want to see your face Captain," he started, "when you know and feel in your heart and soul that you are, once and for all, powerless."  
He slapped Tania across the face. The smack resonated around the entire room and Steve became furious. Seething. But in order for his plan to work, he needed the upper hand. They didn't know his ankles had been freed the day before. He needed surprise. They were expecting him to try and hit them now. It would be pointless.

Tania, to her credit, didn't scream or cry or whimper or any of those things. Her chest rose and fell in quick gasps as she slowly returned her head to its normal position, straight ahead. She was glaring daggers into the Devil's head.

He grinned like a maniac while staring at Steve. "So that's what that looks like," he mumbled to himself. "Ooh, I wish I had a camera to capture this moment." He grabbed Steve's chin and held it fiercely, crushing it in his fingertips.

"It _would_ last longer," he agreed in a tempting fashion.

The Devil raised an eyebrow. "Hit her again."

Austerlitz backhanded Tania on the cheek. She was more prepared for it this time and didn't make a sound. Instead, she chuckled. "I could do this all day," she croaked.

Steve felt an amazing sense of pride and déjà vu as he remembered himself saying that very line quite a few times to the many bullies he'd faced in his life time.

"Maybe so," the Devil conceded, "But can he?"

Austerlitz hit her again and her head snapped to the side. The smack was no quieter than last time and the familiarity of it did nothing to soothe Steve's pounding heart and rushing blood in his ears.

"Oh, how I wish he could have seen this," the Devil exclaimed giddily while staring at Steve. It was hard not to give any reaction when he was so utterly enraged by this horrible DICKHEAD of a person standing in front of him.

"Who?" he asked, knowing that that was what the Devil wanted him to say.

"The original Red Skull."

"Original?"

"Yes, in case you haven't noticed, I am the next generation. The Neo Red Skull, if you will."

"Next generation?"

"Yes, if this can get through that dumb brain of yours. I am Dominik Schmidt."

"Schmidt?" He and Tania said together. It earned her another smack to which Steve was the one to wince.

The Devil cackled (because there was no way what he was doing could be classified as a laugh). "My father was his second cousin," he explained. "You killed a member of my family and now, of course, you see why I have to take revenge."

"No, I don't see," Steve told him bravely.

The Neo Red Skull huffed. "If I were to take a member of your family away, like let's say… one James Barnes," Steve held back a cringe, "and killed them. Would you not want to kill me? Tear me limb from limb?" He kneeled in front of Steve, one hand on the back of his chair and his face rested just a foot or so from his own.

"I don't want to kill anybody," he said. "I'd want revenge, sure. But I'd never kill someone for that reason alone."

"Oh but it would be so tempting," he tried again, "to kill me because I killed one of your own. Because I killed Mr. Barnes." He said it with such conviction, like he had actually done it. "Or maybe, if I killed Miss Banks."

Steve's expression hardened. "I won't let you do that."

"Oh? Are you sure about that?"

"Positive."

"What do you think, Miss Banks?" The Neo Red Skull asked, turning to the woman herself.

She paused in thought. "Steve Rogers doesn't lie. And neither does Captain America. And if you want my opinion, he'll kill you not because of anything you did to me, but because you're part of Nazi organization that can threaten the world. He'll send you to Hell so you can be with your second cousin or whatever – right where you belong."

"Shut up you little bitch!" Austerlitz shouted before smashing the butt of his gun over her head.

Fuck the element of surprise, Steve had had enough. He kicked his feet forward, slamming them into Neo Red Skull's chest before bringing them to the floor and pushing up. He hadn't stood in days and he was a little wobbly but that wasn't about to stop him. He swung his body around and whacked the chair he was still attached to against Austerlitz, sending him to the floor.

"Steve, watch out!" Tania warned when Neo Red Skull sneaked up behind him. The Captain ran forward and jumped in the air, pushing his legs forward and kicking his chest again. It was a move Thor had shown him. They were both shoved in opposite directions and Steve landed on his chair, breaking it beneath his weight. He shoulder rolled backward, now free of the chair. He dropped to a crouch and swung his leg around, swiping the legs of Tania's chair right out from under her. The wooden piece of furniture broke easily under her weight and she grabbed her knife before pushing herself to her feet.

Both Austerlitz and Schmidt were back up by the time this happened and Arnold began to open fire on them. The couple dive rolled separate ways before Steve flipped horizontally in the air and swung his left leg into the back of Austerlitz' head with enough force to knock him out on impact while Tania sawed her ropes off faster than she thought possible and dropped her restraints to the floor. Schmidt tackled her to the ground as soon as her hands were free and her back crashed into the floor painfully.

She gripped the knife he didn't know she had and stabbed him in the first available place – his arm. He cried out while Steve kicked him off of her and she scrambled to her feet. She took the knife and tried out something that just came to her in the moment of adrenaline.

Steve's hand cuffs were powered by electricity and held together by some sort of sizzling wire. She turned him around quickly and stabbed the metal part of the cuff, jamming the blade into a crack and rendering it powerless when the wire was no longer attached to the conductor. Or… that's how she thought it works, anyway.

With his arms free, the first thing Steve did was whirl around and wrap her in a hug. It felt like an eternity since he had held her in his arms and he knew they should be running but he just needed this – for once second.

Tania hugged him back and squeezed as tightly as she could, remembering Steve's promise to her that she would always be safe in his arms. And now she was there, in his embrace, and she had never felt more safe.

The second of happiness was over and Steve ran over to Austerlitz and grabbed his gun. In their moment of tenderness, Schmidt had gotten to his feet and exited the room, pulling an alarm of some sort. That was NOT part of the plan.

Steve grabbed her hand in his while the other held the gun tightly and together they ran out of the room and into the brightly lit hallways. It was a drastic change in lighting and took a little time to get used to. Unfortunately, they didn't have time.

Honestly, Steve thought it would be a little easier than this to break out. He'd thought wrong. The pain from his latest bullet wound was still raw, his legs were numb from lack of use, his arms were numb from lack of use, his stomach rumbled in hunger, his throat ached for water, and his emotions were bubbling over from having to watch the one he loved be hit right in front of his eyes and not be able to do anything about it. Suffice to say, he was not in peak condition right now. That, more than anything, would be his downfall.

He shot with not so perfect aim and with one hand at the minions down the hall that blocked their supposed exit. He had no idea where we he was going, where_ they_ were going. This ironically bright white hell was eerily shaped like a maze and there were doors every few feet that led to God knew where.

Luckily JARVIS helped out a lot, feeding them directions on where to go and telling them when to expect to run into more guards. It was helpful, for lack of a better word.

Tania slashed at anyone who got close with her knife (where did she get that knife again?) but it was obvious she wasn't in the best physical condition either. She was still seemingly faring better than he was – physically, at least.

They ran and they attacked and he killed while she tried not to and they ran some more. There were an endless amount of guards around and it seemed hopeless. How far away was this exit anyway? How big was this compound? Where in the hell were they? But Tania and Steve were not ones to give up.

They turned around a very sharp corner (having trouble not to slip and slide and trip over each other while holding hands) and stopped dead in their tracks. There was a pretty large pit right in front of them, randomly place in the middle of the hallway. What the hell?

Neither of them had time to think about it because guards were on their tail and unless they jumped, they were toast. They nodded at each other once as JARVIS calculated the distance for them. They both ignored him and backed up, before running ahead.

Tania jumped. Steve didn't. He was tackled by three guards at once and he'd let go of her hand so as not to drag her down with him. He peeked through the guards he was struggling to fight off and his breath caught in his throat.

Tania landed harshly by her arms on the other side, dangling over the edge dangerously. What lay at the bottom of that pit and how far, he didn't know. He wasn't sure he _wanted_ to know. But whatever it was, there was a possibility that it could kill her.

She struggled and she wiggled and she tried to pull herself up but she was weak from the lack of movement and nutrition and cleanliness and she couldn't do it, so she just kind of hung there – until a hand gripped her throat in a flash and lifted her above the pit with ease.

"Tania!" he cried out, knocking off one guard only to have two more jump on his back. Damn these guys were heavy. It wasn't like he couldn't lift them all, but when they were all punching and kicking and stabbing, it was a little disorienting. Still, his eyes were glued to the love of his life, dangling over a seemingly endless pit, choking to death in the hands of the Neo Red Skull.

"You were so close," he told them, shouting over the noise of HYDRA soldiers attacking the Captain, "Tsk, tsk. But not close enough. Enjoy the consequences."

He threw Tania into the pit. She screamed. Right. Her biggest fear? Falling. Falling and dying at the end of said fall. Holy shit. HOLY-!

Steve cried out, feeling like his heart was falling with her. Or maybe she _was_ his heart, and that was why he felt like that. He slammed one man into the wall, knocking him out instantly. He tossed another one over his head and rammed him into the ground. He punched yet another one in the face over his shoulder and shoved him into the wall before punching him again. The man dropped like a stone. He jumped and landed on his back, or rather, the back of the man on his back, before elbowing his stomach and rolling over, falling into the pit himself. On purpose.

Because Tania wasn't going anywhere without him. Not even to death.

It was dark as he fell and he could feel the clothes whipping at his skin and dove head first, arms outstretched, in the hopes of catching up to Tania. But he had been up there a good fifteen seconds after she'd fallen. A lot could happen in fifteen seconds. She could have died in those precious seconds. He would just have to follow.

The fall wasn't long, but he heard a splash and then mistakenly thought that he would fall into water. He was wrong. It was because of his brain expecting to fall in water (in which case he would live) that he was doubly shocked when his body rammed face first into what felt like a wall of glass. He groaned. That had hurt.

He slowly and shakily raised his palms to rest beside his head and pushed, peeling his face from the glass with a suction cupped smack! He blinked warily and realized that he was lying on all fours on a giant roof of glass that stretched from wall to wall on every side. But where was Tania?

His question was answered when he looked down. It turns out that the glass was part of a giant rectangular fish tank of some sort, filled to the brim with water. What the heck was this here for?

Right below him, floating in the water with her cheeks puffed out to hold her breath, was Tania. He gasped. She had no air under there. No way out. She would drown. She would die. Why hadn't he fallen in with her? Obviously it was some sort of torture scheme set up by HYDRA but he could barely think about that as he watched her pound her fists against the glass directly below him.

"Tania! Tania, can you hear me?!" he tried.

She shook her head but pressed her left palm to the glass, directly beneath his. His hand felt a few degrees warmer and he stared. All he could do was stare. The water was going to kill her. But it had done one thing good. It had cleansed her of the dirt, filth, and dried blood she'd acquired during their stay here, and she was just as beautiful as ever.

But then her lips popped open and bubbles started rising and a hand flew to her throat. She was choking. She was drowning. She was DYING.

"NO!" Steve screeched, pounding his fist against the glass exactly as Tania had done. Maybe because he was a super soldier, he would be able to break this extremely thick barrier between them. He banged the side of his fist again and again.

She screamed silently and he could just barely here her but there was something in the faint scream that was distinctly Tania and he could see and read the fear in her eyes, the panic in her gaze, the beg for help in her face. She pressed her hands harder against the glass – and then she began to sink.

"NO! TANIA!" Tears began falling down his face but he didn't notice or care. He pounded on the glass even harder than before. "NO!"

Her palm slowly stopped touching his – sort of – and her hair flew about her as she lost all air. Her eyelids closed and he was the last thing she saw. "No…" he sobbed. His heart was falling to its death. When she hit the bottom, it exploded, shattering into a billion tiny sharp shards that spread throughout his body and punctured every single part of his being. He screamed and he allowed his elbows to bow out so that he completely collapsed on the roof. He was sobbing hard and Tania was seconds away from dying. Seconds away from being taken away from him.

He forgot about HYDRA. He forgot about their captivity, about the security cameras, about JARVIS, about the Avengers coming to help and he bawled. She was gone. Forever.

It physically hurt to lose. Every part of him stung and ached, even in places he was sure had never been injured. He screamed again, this time in agonizing pain of losing the one he loved. Every muscle tensed and he spasmed. Was he dying too? There was no way he could suffer this much pain and not be dying. Perhaps he was simply dying on the inside. That would make sense.

By some force of nature, instinct perhaps, he opened his eyes one last time and looked down upon her corpse at the bottom of the tank. She looked peaceful. At least she had escaped this Hell he was stuck in. And now they didn't have anything to hold over him anymore. He would not let them win. For Tania.

But then a miracle happened. The water level began decreasing significantly and before he knew it the tank was completely void of liquid except for a shallow puddle at the bottom that she lay in.

He watched with bated breath; hope daring to attack him in his weakest moment, probably ever. Tania's chest stayed infinitely still. Her lips were blue, he could see, even from so far away. She didn't move. She was either dead, or very, very close. This "miracle" had done nothing but free her body from the depths of those cursed waters.

But as he kept watching, continued to stare at her lovely face even though she was dead, he noticed a HYDRA soldier open a door and enter the tank. His heart began pounding out of his chest – the one he'd thought had shattered. He should be dead. He should be down there with her but by some stupid, elaborate plan by HYDRA, he had been separated from her within those FUCKING FIFTEEN SECONDS he'd been stalled.

He honestly hated time at this point. First there was sleeping for seventy years, then there was going back in time and having to choose which he loved more, then where was the fact that time held everything in its palm and chose to separate him from Tania and have her killed. Yeah he totally hated time now.

He grabbed his pocket watch in his fist and popped it open. The coffee mug and the music note embedded into the cover brought more tears to his eyes. His hand shook so hard he couldn't read the time – but he hated time. He closed his fist and raised his hand, ready to smash it. But something held him back. Maybe it was because he didn't want to do something he'd regret, lose something that would remind him of her. Or maybe it was the fact that the HYDRA soldier below was giving her CPR.

His hands were pressing against her chest and his lips were on hers, breathing life into her and Steve couldn't help the jealousy that twisted his stomach and wringed it out like a towel. But the man was trying to save her, even if was half-heartedly and probably against his will. And for that, Steve suppressed the jealousy and watched, not breathing. He hadn't noticed that he'd stopped breathing when she did, holding his breath. How long had it been?

Again with the time thing. He shoved it out of his mind.

Tania still wasn't breathing. The man who was at it and had kissed her at least fourteen times and she still wasn't breathing. On the fifteenth, he rolled her onto her side and she coughed, spluttering up more water than was probably healthy. No water in her lungs was healthy so puking up what looked like an entire gallon was very bad. She coughed for a good forty-five seconds before she flopped onto her back and allowed sleep to take her.

But she was breathing.

Her chest rose and fell and Steve had never been more relieved in his life. Tears of joy were falling, mixing with those of the grief he'd just felt and he could feel the shards of his heart plucking themselves from his insides and slowly putting themselves back together. A protective shell around his real heart.

The HYDRA soldier left, passing by an old man in a wheel chair that Steve didn't notice because he was a little too busy tumbling through the air when the glass suddenly opened in the middle.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-! UGHN!" He hit the ground harshly on his back and it rang through his body to his bullet wound and he groaned. But none of the pain mattered. Nothing mattered except that Tania was breathing and alive and within reach.

He scrambled to crawl over to her and she was so close and she was breathing! He sighed in relief. He could hear every breath she took, feel the beat of her heart beneath the palm of his hand. He cradled her to his chest. He was touching her. He had his arms around her. She was safe. She was safe. She was alive. She was safe. And Alive.

She was clammy and wet and pale and blue but she was alive and safe and more beautiful than he thought he'd ever seen her. Her dress clung to her and her hair was plastered across her face. He gently pushed it back so that he could see her better. Beautiful…

A sound from the doorway which the soldier had exited made his head snap up and he growled at the old man sitting there in his wheelchair, staring at them with an expression his mind was too clouded to read. All these emotions, the grief he thought would kill him, had taken away his words and reduced him to using his animalistic instincts. So he bared his teeth and pulled her closer, away from the perceived threat.

The old man sat there for a second longer before rolling away, leaving Steve and his love in peace. When he finally accepted that the threat was gone, he turned and stared at the one thing that could destroy him completely, but that he loved unconditionally forever. He wanted to tell her he loved her, but his throat was dry and he had no words. So he simply leaned over her body and cried. He cried for hours in relief and grief at the same time. He cried himself to sleep and when he woke, she was no longer in his arms.


	27. Chapter 26

**A/N. Boo! Did I scare you? Yeah, I didn't think so xP Sorry about the lack of update yesterday. Life suddenly decided to show up on my doorstep and yank me from my computer. But I'm doing the best I can to give you guys updates whenever I can :) So I hope you guys like this one, it's kind of all over the place. I couldn't think of another way to write it though. So here you go, back to the helicarrier and life at the Tower :D Enjoy.**

CHAPTER XXVI

In one of the may labs aboard the helicarrier, Tony, Bruce, and Peter, (the Science Bros plus one – but Peter liked to think they were Science Pals [because they were WAY too old to be his bros]) had searched and searched for almost a full twenty four hours without rest. It had gone all through the night with lots of coffee and interrupted phone calls from worried girlfriends and such and now it was morning on January eleventh and they were nowhere closer to finding Steve and Tania.

In the corner, Tony sipped his fifth cup of coffee greedily. He had failed to protect someone he loved once, when Pepper had been kidnapped by Killian, and now he had failed to protect two more people he loved (though he would never admit it, especially using those exact words): Steve and Tania. What he'd said to Steve in the car in England had been true; they fought and bickered all the time but they were like brothers. They were both stubborn and wanted to be leaders although Tony usually consented to let Steve take the reins except when technology was involved. That was when Iron Man took over. They had bonded over their lack of knowledge about women and how they both didn't like being shown up – although Tony was more argumentative about it. And with Tania… Tony had no idea how, but she had wormed her way into his heart. At first, he'd been totally convinced that when she moved in, she would just be this totally hot employee who he had to set up with Capsicle. But now, she was like… some sort of family member. Not a sister, exactly… that was more along the lines of her relationship with Clint. Not a daughter either, she was more mature than he was (at least they both acted like it). Maybe a niece? A cousin? Let's go with cousin. A very close cousin. Yeah, that works. She was like his cousin. And when someone threatened his family, they… well, look at Stane. Look at Vanko. Look at Killian. All dead. Oh yes, he'd kill those HYDRA nazis with one, totally justifiable blast from his- okay, so he didn't have a suit anymore. But he was still Iron Man. He took another sip of his coffee.

In the other corner, scratching away at a notepad and fixing his glasses every so often, was Peter. He and Tania had something more than a boss-employee relationship, like Tony and she did. Although he wasn't all that close to her, at least not as close as the other Avengers were, he still thought of her as a friend and a really cool person who did not deserve to be in the situation she was currently in. And Steve was like, the epitome of what every man should strive to be. Even Peter. And if he needed help, Peter would gladly give it because that man had saved the world more than once and still remained humble and just all around a good guy. A good guy who needed saving. And Spider-man was someone who saved people. It just made sense.

In the middle of the room, fiddling with the screens over the counter, was a very exhausted Bruce Banner. He and the Hulk were both very angry that Steve and Tania had been taken, but Hulking out and smashing things wasn't going to bring them back. So he held it in, playing Tania's singing voice in his head over and over again to keep himself calm. It didn't work as well as usual, not only because it wasn't the same as the actual thing, but it just reminded him that she was gone and couldn't do it for him because she had been captured by HYDRA FUCKING NAZI- Calm down! God, he needed to calm down. He needed more coffee. He began to play the song again and even out his breathing. Tania was like… kind of like his daughter, in his a sense. Except she was usually the one giving him advice. Did that make her kind of like his mother figure? No, that's just weird considering he's just about twice her age. So he was going to go with very insightful daughter. And now she was gone. And Steve… Steve was like his… he didn't know, partner "in crime" for lack of a better term. He and Steve were the only ones who never got drunk and were therefore the most responsible of the team. They were kind of like partner mother hens. Although Natasha was responsible of herself, she didn't help out with caring for the others too much unless it was a life or death situation. So it was left up to the two of them to haul Clint and Tony's drunk asses back to their rooms while Thor was either in Asgard or just intoxicated enough to not want to help. Steve was the calm in the raging storm that was the Avengers. He was the level-headed one. He and Bruce probably got along the best first. Steve hadn't been afraid of the Hulk or resented him for it or even cared. He'd just treated him as he was another scientist searching for the Tesseract. And so they'd become like partners, in a sense completely different than the Science Bros. Tony would probably call them the Father Roosters or something stupid like that.

He grabbed his tea (with added caffeine) and shakily brought it to his lips, swallowing the now cold liquid in gulps before setting it back down on the counter roughly, splashing it a little. "Jarvis, bring up any and all information on Arnold Austerlitz and HYDRA side by side," he ordered.  
He flicked and scrolled and swiped through many screens until his eyes widened when he found a connection. "Call a meeting. Call a meeting right now!"

So half an hour later, the Avengers (plus Peter minus Steve) sat in the meeting room once again with Fury standing at the head.

"Welcome Avengers," the director greeted when they were all seated and settled down.

"Or what is left of it," Thor mumbled, having returned from Asgard mere minutes before.

"What was that?"

"We are not a complete team without our Captain, our leader, nor our singing Avenger of Honour."

"Thor's right," Natasha agreed, having returned from her walk with Clint twenty minutes prior at the call, "We're not complete without Steve and without Tania, Steve wouldn't be all there. We need them both to be complete. We need to get them back."

"I understand that," Fury said before his aura darkened, "I feel it is my duty to inform you that the council has made a decision to blow up the HYDRA base exactly twelve hours after we discover its location unless we get the Captain and Miss Banks out of there any earlier."

Immediately there was an uproar up activity. Many of the Avengers stood up from their chairs and began yelling, shouting, protesting.

"They can't do that!"

"Those assholes!"

"This is completely unnecessary!"

"Tis not fair what they have chosen!"

"This is absolute BULLSHIT!"

"Who the heck elected these ass hats onto the Council?"

Standing over to the side, was Agent Maria Hill, with her hip cocked and her arms crossed. She watched this for about five seconds before she stepped forward. "EVERYONY CALM DOWN NOW!"

It was completely silent in the meeting room. Even the agents below had ceased their activity.

"Thank you, Agent Hill," Fury told her. She nodded in return. "Barton, Romanoff, report."

Clint and Natasha told the others about their trip to the theatre. They told of a man who Clint had convinced them was name was Dick with red hair and eyes. They told them that Austerlitz and that man had not been present that night and any and all information they knew.

Thor was next. He revealed that he knew Steve and Tania were alive, which released a little bit of the tension in the room, but not all of it. He said that Odin would not help because he feared that he would mess with the affairs of Midgard and become obsessed by it, choosing to rule another realm instead of his own; which was preposterous but that was apparently what Odin had chosen to think.

When it was Bruce's turn, he stood up. "I think I may have something."

"By all means," Fury urged him on.

The doctor adjusted his glasses nervously. "Um, well…" he brought up an exact copy of the scattered mess he had been looking at in the lab that no one could really follow, "I had Jarvis scope out this Austerlitz person and give me as much information as he could before we came here. Arnold was apparently a fifty-one year old man who dropped out of college a year and a half in. He was studying to be an electrician. He moved in with his girlfriend whom he married shortly after. He has been almost completely under the radar since, nothing to do with him except for records of his children's births. But a week after the Chitauri incident, when the world discovered that Captain America had survived the crash, he moved out for a pretty long time, but there are no records of him moving in anywhere. He did eventually move back in with his wife sometime last month, but that's irrelevant because according to Jarvis, several men (mostly in Germany but not all) dropped off the face of the planet – but there were no police reports for missing people – around the same time he did. I have a hunch they all dropped what they were doing to become HYDRA once again after they'd disbanded. I suspect they've been regrouping and planning ever since Steve and Tania came out with their relationship on Rhodey's birthday back in August. They know she's his weakness now. I also suspect that they think Clint and Natasha are dead, otherwise they wouldn't have left them there.

"Anyway, in order to find their HQ, I had Jarvis triangulate the coordinates between the previous homes of all those 'missing' men to find a location equally distant to each of them, which is where they would most likely build their base." He pulled up a three dimensional holographic map of Germany. "If we draw a circle with a diameter of approximately this size," he drew a circle with his finger on the map, leaving a glowing trace, "their base would most likely be in here. Of course it's all just a hunch, but I'm thinking it's all we got."

"You'd be right," Fury agreed, stepping closer to the map. "Hamburg, Germany."

He nodded. "That's all I've got. I'm sorry."

Tony patted his friend's back heartily. "It's better than nothing. Good job Jolly Green."

"Commence the hunt!" Thor boomed before Peter began whispering in his ear. "Er… I mean, commence the search!"

Fury raised an eyebrow. "Hill, get this ship to Hamburg yesterday."

"Yes, Sir." She nodded curtly before exiting.

Tony stared at Bruce's circle on the map with sad eyes. "Don't worry guys, we're coming."

* * *

Betty, Graham, and Pepper were in pretty much the exact same situation as Tony, Bruce, and Peter. They had been using JARVIS to try and track down the HYDRA base and had so far been unlucky – or just plain had no idea what they were doing. But unlike the Science Bros plus one, this trio had something else to deal with – Felicity.

That woman had been driving the others crazy. With the Tower void of employees because of the Lock Down, Ms. Deed had no one else to bug and although she spent a lot of her time talking on her cell phone to some unknown person, when she wasn't talking on the phone, she was drilling Pepper, Betty, and her son on everything related to Tony and Pepper's income.

It was obvious that the self-righteous bitch was just trying to find a way to receive some of that income. From the others understood, she was pretty much homeless even if she acted like she had all the money in the world.

But it was on this day, that Felicity crossed the line.

"Who are you talking to, Betsy?"

Mrs. Banner ground her teeth. "It's Betty. And I'm talking to Bruce," she told her as she pressed the phone into her shoulder. "I'm done now, though." She hung up and looked over at Pepper and Graham who were anxiously awaiting news. "He says he did some research and thinks that Steve and Tania might be somewhere in…" she looked over at Felicity warily, "Europe."

Pepper and Graham exchanged glances. Felicity snorted. "So the monster actually found something useful? We know that they're on… wait for it, a continent!" she rolled her eyes. "Oh please. That hulking creature has no right to be in society, let alone trying to find my daughter with a team of superheroes."

Betty blew her top. "SHUT THE FUCK UP! JUST SHUT UP!" she screamed, surprising everyone in the room. "You fucking bitch! Bruce is a wonderful person who has every right to be here as anyone else! Even you! But you know what? After what you just said, I'm taking away that right. And I'm one hundred percent sure that Pepper will back me up on this. Get. Out."

Felicity's mouth opened and closed like a fish. "I-I-"

"GET OUT!"

"Before we get Jarvis to make you," Graham added on, almost giddy with excitement that his mom would be leaving.

Pepper was speechless. But she knew that if they were going to kick Ms. Deed onto the streets, then she needed to make a phone call. She quickly excused herself from the room and dialed a number.

Back inside, Betty and Graham were ganging up on the older woman threateningly. Felicity eyed them for only a second before standing her ground. "Fine then. Make me."

"Jarvis?"

"Activating the Justin Hammer protocol, Sir." Felicity fell through the floor with a scream. "Activating the same protocol for Ms. Deed's luggage."

Graham couldn't wipe the grin off his face. "Thank you, Jarvis. You are the best AI any human could have ever asked for."

"Thank you, Mr. Banks."

"No, thank you. Make sure Felicity gets kicked to the curb please, literally. And don't let her back in. No matter what. Ever."

"Of course, Sir."

"You're awesome!"

"Thank you."

Pepper returned to the lab as she snapped her phone closed. "I just called a news reporter for the New York Times. I warned them about Felicity and told them that if she says she was kicked out and that we're terrible hosts and stuff like that, that she's lying."

"Nice!" Graham high-fived her.

Betty was still seething in the corner. Her two companions made quick work of calming her down. All of them couldn't deny the relief at finally having that nuisance gone. Hopefully for good.

* * *

Out on the street, Felicity landed on the curb roughly and she grunted. Her luggage tumbled after her and whacked her in the head. She groaned and rolled over, pulling out her cell phone as she stood up. She was in the parking lot around the back of Avengers Tower where no one could see what had just happened. She dialed his number and held her phone to her ear.

"It's me. It didn't work. I literally got kicked out. Where am I supposed to live now?" She waited impatiently while the person responded. "I don't care about that, give me my money! I need a place to live!" Another pause. "Fine. But it won't work. They probably already called a reporter ahead of time to prevent that exact thing." Pause. "Oh… very clever." She rolled her eyes as he babbled on for what was probably around thirty seconds. "Fine. But then I get my money?" She grinned satirically at his reply. "I look forward to it, Mr. Hammer," she purred. "Be right there."

Twenty some minutes later, Felicity was crying fake tears in front of a news reporter for some famous magazine who was faking sympathy right back with a microphone shoved in her face.

"And then they took my daughter! I don't know where she is and she could be killed, dead, or worse!" She sobbed heavily. "And her boyfriend, the nice Captain, he was taken too. We think they were taken by some sort of Nazi organization and that they're somewhere in Europe! They've been captured and my daughter… she's… she's… she's missing!" She bawled into her hands as dramatically as she could. She grabbed the arm of the reporter and shook him violently. "Please spread the word! I need to know if someone's seen my daughter! PLEASE!"

* * *

Pepper and Tania had become like sisters in the time that the brunette had spent at the Tower. They told each other everything and they spent the most time together out of all the Avengers duos (except Clint and Natasha... and maybe Tony and Bruce). They frequently texted and worked together and went shopping all the time and went out for meals just because they could... they were each other's social lives. So when Tania was taken the _first_ time, Pepper had been in tears. _This_ time, Pepper was hysterical. But she hid it very well. Only in front of Tony did she ever _really_ cry. Sure, she shed a few tears in front of the others, but with her boyfriend, she sobbed and bawled and sniffled and hiccuped. And then there was Steve. Steve was a great friend. He was an amazing listener and gave great advice and was willing to put his life on the line for anyone and everyone in the universe - especially those he considered friends and/or family. Steve had saved her from having to walk home alone once. A meeting had gone overtime across town and the car Happy had taken to come and get her had broken down. So Steve had elected to pick her up on his motorcycle. It had been incredibly sweet of him and he was just an all-around sweet and sensitive guy. And he had been captured by HYDRA. Pepper was devastated that he was in danger. If any one of the members of the Avengers had been taken she would be devastated. But right now it was just Steve. And she needed both him and Bruce to mother the others - it just wouldn't be the same without him.

While she pondered these thoughts and tried not to cry, she walked through the lobby after collecting some of her employees' assignments and paperwork when all of a sudden she was blinded by multiple white flashes. She turned to face the glass doors and shielded her eyes with one hand and carried her work in the other. Right outside, practically shoving their faces against the glass, were dozens and dozens of paparazzi.

"Jarvis!" She called in a panicky voice. "The Iron Reveal protocol! Now!"

"I thought you'd never ask." All of a sudden, thick metal walls fell down in front of all the glass in the entire Tower, preventing anyone from seeing inside from any angle.

Pepper sighed in relief. "Thanks."

"My pleasure, Ms. Potts. It has been brought to my attention that Ms. Deed appears to have gone to the press about the disappearance of Miss Banks and Captain Rogers."

Pepper dropped her papers. "She what?!"

"The entirety of New York and is now privy to the knowledge that one of their heroes is missing and that Miss Banks has gone missing as well under the protection of the Avengers. To quote one of the articles posted, 'What hope do we have that these people can protect our country when they can't even protect one of their own?' The city is in an uproar."

"Who wrote that article?"

"Miss Christine Everheart."

"Ugh!"

"Perhaps you should meet up with Mrs. Banner in the lounge?"

"I'll do that, thanks Jarvis. Where's Graham?"

"Mr. Banks is currently in the shower."

Pepper nodded her head and began picking up her papers. Once she had them in a somewhat messy pile, she hurriedly made her way to the elevator. She waited impatiently to be taken to the lounge.

When the doors opened, she sprinted out and almost ran into Betty. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I was just coming to look for you. All the windows suddenly closed off with metal somehow! Was that you?"

"Yeah, that was me." The two woman made their way to the counter where Pepper dropped off her papers. Betty began to make tea while they talked. "You'll never guess what just happened."

After regaling the tale of what JARVIS had told her, Betty gasped. "She didn't!"

Pepper nodded her head sadly. "She did."

Just then, JARVIS interrupted them. "Ms. Potts, you have a video call request from Miss Foster and Miss Lewis."

"Put them on the TV screen, Jarvis."

"Yes, Ms. Potts."

As Betty and Pepper took hold of their teas (Peppermint and Orange Pekoe) and relocated to the couch, Jane and Darcy's faces appeared on the monitor.

"What happened to Tania and Steve?!" Jane demanded.

Darcy waved in the background. "Hi from both us. Sorry bee-tee-dubs. She's kinda out of it." She circled her finger around her ear and made a funny face.

Jane ignored her. "Is it true what all the papers say?"

Pepper and Betty both turned solemn. "Yes, it's true," the red head confirmed.

Both Jane and Darcy gasped. "How did the press find out?" Jane asked, one hand against her chest.

"And why didn't you guys call us? More importantly, why didn't your Godly boyfriend call us?" The intern poked her boss' arm, which went ignored.

"We're sorry," Betty apologized. "But SHIELD has us pretty tight lipped, otherwise we would have told you earlier."

"Stupid iPod-stealers…" Darcy mumbled.

"Now that the world knows," Jane interrupted, "you can tell us stuff, right?"

Pepper and Betty exchanged a glance before shrugging in sync. "Sure. Why not?"

Just before they started the story (from the thing in Philadelphia first) Graham walked in toweling off his hair in jeans and a white T-shirt. "Okay gals, I'm back for some more research and yes, I shaved. Just cause my mom left, doesn't mean you get to mommy me." He removed the towel from his head and tossed it into the wall/laundry hamper.

The first thing Darcy said was, "Damn…".

Graham looked up at the TV, only just noticing the extra company. "Oh, hey! More gals! Sup Jane? I don't believe we've met," he moved his gaze over to Darcy who had composed herself and crossed her legs.

"I think I would remember if we had."

He smirked. "So would I. I'm Graham."

"Darcy."

"Nice to meet you."

"Right back atcha handsome."

He winked at her before plopping onto the couch on Pepper's left. "What are we talking about?"

Once Jane, Darcy, and Graham were filled in on the situation, Graham's eyes darkened and he stood up abruptly. He stomped out of the room and slammed the fridge door closed just for the sensation of slamming a door in anger seeing as he couldn't slam the elevator.  
Jane, Darcy, Pepper, and Betty were left in stunned silence.

"What's his deal?" Darcy asked, jutting her thumb in the direction of where Graham had stormed off.

Pepper sighed. "Felicity is his mom."

The intern's eyes widened. "Wait, wait, wait," she waved her hands in front of her frantically, "That makes him Tania's brother! Woah… mind-fuck… I was wondering what some stranger was doing at the Tower. So his sister's the one that's been kidnapped?"

Pepper nodded.

Jane lowered her eyes and head. "This must be so hard for him…"

"He mostly buries it under optimism and laughs but that's how he is usually so you can't really tell the difference. But sometimes… he has little break downs. But I emphasize the word, 'little'," Pepper explained.

Upstairs in his room, Graham knocked over his lamp and watched it shatter and spark before he shoved his back against the wall and slid down, with his head in his hands.

How was he supposed to cope with this? How was he expected to deal with the fact that his sister had been kidnapped by a secret organization of HYDRA Nazis focused on weaponry? Was there some sort of book out there titled, "How To Deal With Your Sister Dating A Super Hero And Getting Kidnapped All The Time". Like seriously. What the actual hell? This was his sister. The girl he'd grown up with, who'd babied him since he was an actual baby. She'd taught him how to ride a bike and they spent all of their childhood together building forts and occupying each other's time when their parents refused to play with them or when Aunt Gemma was busy or when they hadn't learned sign language yet and couldn't communicate with her. She'd introduced him to his first friends and set him up on his first date. She'd held his hand when he got his braces on and off and when he had his tonsils removed. She supported every decision he made even if she didn't agree with it. She embarrassed him sometimes whenever he had a girl over by fussing over him or telling embarrassing stories but that was just what she did and he wouldn't change that for anything. She was there when he burned himself trying to cook dinner and she was there when she scraped his knee and fell off his bike and didn't want to get back on. She was there for his graduation and she was there for him when he couldn't decide on where to go for University. She was there almost his whole life and even when she had moved away, they had kept in close contact. They were as close as brother and sister could be. How was he supposed to deal with losing her? Maybe permanently? And then there was her boyfriend: his childhood hero. After giving Steve the "If you hurt my sister I'll kill you" spiel, the two of them had decided to try and spend time together for Tania's sake. They got along really well and they both owned motorcycles so they liked to talk parts and shit to make each other feel smart (especially in the presences of Tony and Bruce). And now he was gone too. Graham just couldn't deal.

So every once in a while he allowed himself to break, knowing that Tania wasn't there to patch him back afterwards. But he could do it himself. He was a big boy now, as he had been telling her for the past ten years or so. It was just a lot harder. But he did it anyway, because he knew that if he didn't, he would give up hope. And that was something he could not afford to lose on top of everything else. He just couldn't.

**A/N. Sorry about the REALLY long paragraphs btw, but I really wanted each character to have one paragraph on their feelings about Tania and Steve's disappearance so I kept it in one. So far, in order, we've done Natasha, Clint, Thor, Tony, Bruce, Peter, Pepper, and Graham. Who's left? Betty and Fury. Stay tuned because next time, we go back to Stania :)**


	28. Chapter 27

**A/N. Hello :) Here's today's update, back to Stania for a little but but at the end we get some Fury and more Hill than we're used to. Hope you enjoy :D**

**P.S. I wasn't going to make Felicity part of "the dark side" until Fellowship of Avengers gave me the idea, so thank you :)**

**P.P.S. I've noticed that some of you have left reviews asking about how the Avengers can have their own comic books (refer to the chapter with Pepper/Betty comforting Graham when he wants to join SHIELD... don't remember the number) and originally Captain America was the only one to have comic books (as seen in the CA movie). At the end of Avengers, we see things like Iron Man masks and Avengers merchandise in the montage with Stan Lee in it, so why not comic books? At that point it would have been a little too soon to have created a comic book but it has been 8 months since the Chitauri incident. I think it's totally plausible that there have been comics created on the Avengers in this universe. Also, Pepper was only referring to Graham getting Steve to autograph his comic book. Not Tony or the others. **

**P.P.P.S One last thing. Discovering the details of Stania's time expedition WILL come, but it will come WAAAAAAY near the end - like right before the Epilogue, type of end. So yeah, it's coming, but you just have to be patient to see Tony reaction that Howard kissed Tania xP Okay. 'Nough said. Ciao!**

CHAPTER XXVII

Fire. Fire burned in his veins, boiled in his blood, and coiled his fists. Fire fueled his anger. Fire fueled his rage. Fire fueled his passion. His anger was directed at himself, for he brought Tania into this situation. This was his entire fault. He had tried to turn Tania away from him and his dangerous life (not very hard) and she had turned him down. He should have enforced it harder, should have gotten her out of there when he had the chance. His rage was directed at HYDRA. Those fucking bastards had killed Tania – and then brought her back to life just to torture her AND him some more. It was the most cruel, heartless, truly evil thing he had ever witnessed in his entire life. And he had been in World War Two. His passion was mostly directed towards his love for Tania, his devotion to her and his vow to make her laugh every day and to protect her as much as he could. This passion was aflame throughout his body now more than ever, but she was closed off, broken.

Water. Water flowed down his face in tears and circled through his gut in waves. Water displayed his sadness. Water made his guilt physically painful. His sadness was because of everything. The world must hate him for some reason. Otherwise, why be so cruel? What was the point of going through all of this? Why? He had shed more tears than he cared to admit and it was so hard to stay strong – but he managed it somehow, for her. Water (or some form of liquid) churned in his stomach in the form of guilt for failing to protect Tania, for allowing her to be sucked into his life. He was mentally beating himself to a pulp inside. But it was the swirling in his gut that did it for him.

Earth. The Earth was strong, constant, and reliable. Like Tania, it was always there; ready to catch him when he fell. It would never leave, never let him down. His love for her worked the same way. It was unwavering. It was faithful. It was just as strong. And he knew that hers mirrored his. She grounded him, kept him rooted to the spot when he felt like a balloon about to fly away. There was no Earth in this HYDRA base. It was unnerving.

Air. He never seemed to have enough of it. He breathed in short gasps twenty-four seven now because Neo Red Skull had decided he needed to be permanently subdued. He had apparently killed Austerlitz with that flying spin kick to the head. He must have been angrier than he thought. So they shot him twice a day now. And they had him chained to the wall by his wrists and ankles made of some sort of metal he had never seen before. He had no idea where they had gotten it, but it wasn't vibranium or titanium alloy or adamantium or whatever elements Tony and Bruce talked about. And so now he wheezed day and night and there was never enough air in his lungs. He felt like he was slowly dying, like they were stealing his oxygen. Not only that, but he felt empty. Useless. He couldn't do anything to protect the one he loved and they had killed when just before he had said that he wouldn't let that happen – and then it had happened. How could he have been so cocky and naïve and overconfident? He had been so stupid. And now he felt like he was suffocating.

Tania sat a few feet away, curled up in a ball and facing away from him. When Steve had awoken, they had both been in this position. He'd tried to call her over, to see if she was asleep (or worse), to reach out to her, but she'd resisted each time. She hadn't spoken a word. She hadn't looked at him. She refused to touch him. He could understand that. He kind of hated himself too. Especially now that he knew how much she had been affected by that experience in the water.

The door suddenly burst open and in came a HYDRA soldier with a gun. Well, time sure went by fast. Steve didn't even move when the gun was aimed at him. He just clenched his muscles and waited. He didn't have to wait long. As promised, the bullet lodged itself into the same place as before and he yanked at his chains but otherwise remained still and quiet. The man left without a word and Steve was left to bleed to death.

Tania finally turned around. Her face was blank. It was the scariest thing Steve had ever seen except watching her die. She was pale, like a ghost and her eyes were void of anything that reminded him of any emotion whatsoever. She crawled over to the first aid kit and removed all the necessary tools and equipment before dragging at all towards him. She did the work without even making a face. Who was this person? It most certainly wasn't Tania, not the one he loved.

He panted while she removed the bullet and cleaned his wound. Once he was all wrapped up, she began to back away again. Not wanting to startle her, he slowly reached out and grabbed her wrist. She didn't jump or anything but she didn't look at him. She just stared at the wall on the other side of the room.

"Tania," he croaked. She didn't move. "Look at me. Please. I'm begging you."

Several seconds went by. Slowly, tentatively, she turned her head to face him. The second their eyes met Steve could feel the embers glowing somewhere inside of him – a sign that their love was still there, just buried beneath all the drama and the hurt and everything else piled on top of them. For a long time, they simply stared.

He gently tugged on her arm and she obliged, allowed herself to be pulled closer. With his arms sort of free this time around, Steve was able to wrap them around her and cuddle her to his chest. She curled up into a ball again, but this time was she buried into his side with one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders and the other stroking her hair. He inhaled her scent and immediately he felt more at ease. He was touching her, holding her, she was safe there. Nothing had yet to happen while she was in his arms. Nothing could ruin it.

They sat like that, together, for what was probably hours. Eventually, Steve broke the silence. "I love you," he whispered.

She slowly looked up at him. She began signing._ I love you too_. Even though he didn't know sign language, he could pretty much guess what she'd said. Her eyes had finally decided to show something: love.

It was such a relief. She was broken, but she could be fixed. And he would be the one to fix her, to rebuild her piece by piece. "Tania, Darling… I love you more than you could ever imagine. You are my whole world. Please don't leave me."

She shook her head, keeping her eyes locked with his. She moved her hands to communicate._ I promise_. Again, her eyes were what spoke to him. He nodded in understanding.

"We'll get through this. Together. You and I. The perfect team. We'll get through this and we'll come out stronger. Just like nineteen forty-five. We'll get through this."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. She pressed a hand to his chest weakly and he backed away an inch, looking down at her. She looked up for a split second before her lips connected with his.

He was surprised to say the least but it was a pleasant surprise. This kiss told him everything he needed to know. She trusted him. She loved him. She believed him. She had faith in him. She was his. Forever more.

He kissed back with fervor, wrapping his arms around her waist protectively and possessively, bringing her closer to him. He needed to know she was really there, really with him and not dead like he'd seen. He needed to know that he wasn't dreaming.

The kissing stopped when his hand unconsciously found its way under her dress and she pulled away. She pointed to the cameras and he nodded. Not in front of the HYDRA Nazis. Their true love, in its oldest, rawest, and purest form, was for their eyes only. It was intensely private. Not something they would let just anyone see.

He kissed the top of her head again before she settled into his side and they sat there, waiting for rescue. Steve and Jarvis brainstormed through code on more plans but so far had come up with diddlysquat.

That was when the door opened. Neither prisoner flinched but Steve gripped her shoulders tighter. The light that entered the room was bright, but the door was on the adjacent wall to the, so it wasn't blinding.

In rolled the man with the wheelchair, the one Steve had seen before in the tank and the one who had recognized Tania at the theatre. The Captain growled and moved forward, rattling his chains, to sit in front of Tania protectively.

As the man entered further into the room, the thick metal door swung closed behind him. He approached slowly and cautiously as darkness swept over the room again and everyone's eyes had to adjust. That was when something snapped and something in his hands began to glow green.

A glow stick. Steve remembered the other Avengers showing him what those were when they went to the amusement park on Thor's birthday back in December. Graham had said that they were "wicked cool".

The stick in the man's hands illuminated the room enough so that they could see his face. The three of them had a staring contest of some sort before Steve started to notice something. His eyes. They were… familiar. But from where?

Having noticed Steve's glare-turned-scrutiny, the old man sighed. "My name is Klaus Drechsler. But you might know me better as 'Guy'. We met in nineteen forty-five, when I was twenty."

Tania's eyes widened, but Steve still didn't get it. "I don't know you."

He shook his head. "No. You don't. You never did. But you've met me. I was that HYDRA soldier you interrogated." He turned to Tania. "And you too."

It finally clicked into place. "It's you," he breathed. The man who'd tackled Tania when they time travelled in nineteen forty-five during the HYDRA attack he'd stopped. The man they had both interrogated before he'd confessed that there was a bomb to his chest so they'd sent him on a submarine into the ocean to die. Tania had found a piece of the submarine with the word "REVENGE" written on it. So he really had survived.

Guy, or rather Klaus, nodded. "It's me. I'm eighty-eight now. It's been a long time."

"What do you want?"

Klaus looked down at the floor. "I don't know," his voice was hoarse and he didn't have as thick an accent as the others. "But I knew I had to see you. I needed to know if it was really her." He stared at Tania pointedly who squeaked in response.

Steve was thrown for a loop. Could this guy know about time travel? If he didn't already know, should Steve tell him? How would he explain it to him if he said know? She looked exactly the same. But then again, the time machine had been destroyed. What was the point of telling anyone if no one could use it or believe him if he were to tell anyone? Still…

"This is… Nancy's… um… granddaughter, Tania."

She shook her head before signing frantically, knowing full well no one could understand her. Both men stared at her incredulously but Klaus seemed to realize the gist of what she was trying to say.

"So you're… actually her? Nancy?"

Steve sighed. "Nancy was a name she made up. Just like when I posed as William."

"You were alive… after the crash." Steve's eyes quickly flicked to the cameras in every corner of the room. Klaus waved a hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about them. I muted the cameras. They can't hear us."

Steve eyed him warily. "How do I know I can trust you?"

He shrugged. "You don't. You just have to take a leap of faith."

Tania and Steve exchanged a brief glance. She nodded at him and he sucked in a breath. He let it all out in a drawn out exhale. "Fine. Yes, I was alive after the crash. Still am."

"But you were in nineteen forty-five. Undercover. Why? Have you been undercover all this time but came out to fight those aliens?"

"No."

"Then what? And I get that you're still alive, a side effect of the serum maybe, but her? How is she still so… young?"

Steve looked at her and she nodded at him again. "Time travel," he answered.

Klaus' eyes widened. "Impossible…"

"Said the man to the super soldier and who witnessed it himself."

"I… I…" he was speechless. After a time, he rubbed at the crease between his eyebrows tiredly and slouched forward. "So it really was you? Both of you?"

"Yes."

He eyed them both. "You look… the same."

"It wasn't that long ago. Four months. And a half."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"So… you're real name is Tania?"

She nodded.

"And William Coulson doesn't exist?"

"No."

He rubbed at his eyes. "Well… that's certainly a lot to take in."

"Uh huh."

There is a silence that spreads on, dragging out his eventual reply. "You know… there was a reason I told you about the bomb, Miss Banks."

She looked up at him, confused.

"I told you that I liked you. That I didn't want you to die. I wasn't lying."

The door opened and in stepped another guard with barf- oh, wait, that's food. Klaus eyed them both with a stare that neither of them could decipher before rolling backward and away. He exited the room with the guard after the food (barf) had been thrown onto the floor and they were shrouded in darkness once again.

* * *

On the helicarrier that had finally arrived in Germany, the Avengers began setting up a manual search team. Clint and Natasha (along with some other agents) were to take a quinjet and fly around Hamburg using the cloaking device as a cover. Bruce took a motorcycle similar to the one he had "borrowed" to get back to the Chitauri battle and would search the downtown city streets. Thor would walk around undercover in the marketplace and search that way. Peter would travel by rooftops also undercover across town. Tony had excused himself to make a phone call outside the helicarrier that had landed in the SHIELD German airport and had yet to return.

Five minutes later, he sat himself down on a couch in the airport and waited. Less than an hour later, everyone at SHIELD was shocked when the Iron Patriot landed just two feet from Tony's position. They were even more shocked when the War Machine suit landed right next to it.  
Iron Patriot's facemask lifted to reveal Rhodey. Tony grinned and stood up, grasping his best friend's hand in a friendly greeting. "What took you so long?"

Rhodey snorted. "Oh please."

Tony wormed his way into the War Machine suit (which had been piloted by JARVIS) and the two of them flew off, no doubt to join the search, while still bickering.

Agent Hill ran off to tell Director Fury, her heeled boots clacking against the metal rafters of the warehouse nearby that looked over the airport. She climbed the stairs and joined her superior on the top rafter, looking out over all his agents.

"Sir, Stark and Rhodes-"

"I know, Agent Hill."

"But Sir,-"

"Lt. Col. Rhodes is not authorized to be a part of this mission and is not a part of the Avengers Initiative. I know. But it's like Stark said: 'We can use all the help we can get.' Why the hell do you think I let Parker in on this?"

"They are flying around in their armour. They're bound to be seen by someone."

"They'll be careful."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because this is a very serious thing. Stark tends to get too serious when it comes to people's lives."

"Sir, are you sure-?"

"I'm positive."

Maria pursed her lips. "Permission to speak freely, Sir?"

"Permission granted."

"This search and mission is pointless. You cannot expect them to find a well hidden HYDRA base by manually searching the city one of them thinks may hold their friends."

"Maybe so, but it's all they've got. They need hope, Agent. I'm giving it to them."

"But is it worth it? We've just relocated an entire armada of SHIELD agents without telling them and we're giving them false hope."

"Is hope really false, Agent Hill?"

"In this case, Sir, I believe it is."

"And that's why I'm the director and you're second in command."

She uncrossed and then re-crossed her arms. "Director, I think we should go back to base. This is useless. There is no way HYDRA will give up Rogers without a fight even if we do find them – which is next to impossible. This isn't our fight. If they want to keep searching, let them. But we should never have gotten involved."

"The Avengers are under SHIELD's protection. When one of our agents goes missing, we put everything we've got into getting them back."

"Unless the Council says otherwise."

Fury looked pained for a second, but then it was gone and he was a blank slate again. "Yes. Unless the Council says otherwise."

"And that's when we send in Strike Team Delta."

Fury's lips twitched. "Of course."

"Sir… let's go back."

Fury turned around completely to face Maria, hands clasped behind his back. "Phil Coulson believes in heroes. Do you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "There is proof that they're real right in front of us."

"I didn't ask if you thought they were real. I asked you if you believed in them."

She raised her chin defiantly. "No, Sir. I don't."

"I thought so. So tell me, Agent Hill, how the Avengers came together to defeat a common enemy, the first time."

"They were temporarily united by the supposed death of Agent Coulson."

"And how do you think they're going to come together this time."

Maria shifted her weight. "The capture of Captain Rogers and Miss Banks."

"Exactly."

"So you really think they're going to do it? You really think they're going to find this HYDRA base? And what if they're dead, what happens then?"

Fury turned away from her and looked out over the balcony again, sliding his hands across the bar outwards. "Then the Avengers Initiative is no more."

"But Sir-!"

"Quiet, Agent!" he snapped. She immediately shut up, but she didn't look happy about it. "Without their leader, the Avengers will refuse to cooperate. They will continue to fight against evil, but they will not be the same. And without Miss Banks… they will all be scared. Especially the Captain. He will never be the same. They will be broken. Missing a piece of their…"

"Team?"

"Family. They will not be whole."

"But it's just like you said, they'll continue fighting."

"But it won't be the same."

"What does it matter if it's the same as long as they continue the Initiative?"

"They will not be the team they once were. They will fall apart and evil will win."

"You sound so sure of yourself."

"I am."

"How can you be?"

"Because I've seen it."

"The future?" she asked sarcastically.

He shook his head. "No. I've seen what they're like when they're missing someone. Look at Stark. We were monitoring his battle with Killian. He was defeated before Ms. Potts saved his life. These people are nothing without each other."

"Is that why you're doing this? Because you're afraid they'll fall apart if they don't at least try?"

"I'm not afraid. But yes, that's why I'm doing this."

Maria held back the urge to roll her eyes. "Could we not bring them back together by using the same thing we did the first time?"

Fury glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "He wouldn't be the piece they're missing."

She sighed. "So we're just going to sit here until we find something."

A breeze swept over them, blowing his coat to the left and gently brushing her hair into her face which she tucked behind her ear. Nick Fury didn't know how to answer that. She had a point. They couldn't sit here forever. There was a definite possibility that Rogers Banks were dead. They could be here searching for nothing for an indeterminate amount of time. What was he going to do?

Hill had a totally business perspective, where she saw most people as expendable and looked at everything and saw numbers, liabilities, and assets. He didn't have that. Despite being "thee super spy", he had feelings.

Captain Rogers was a good man – one the world could not afford to lose. He was the one who kept his team in line and prevented them from driving the Director insane and busting the vain in his forehead. He was the responsible one, the mature one, the honest one, and most importantly, the most obedient one. He gave in reports on time and gave very detailed, military-style reports whereas Tony handed his brief version on a soiled napkin with a leaky pen. The Captain was punctual and organized and all of his traits were admirable. He would go through Heaven and Earth to save a member of his team. The favour should be returned. And then there was Miss Banks. She would make a good agent one day. Of that, he had no doubt. She was loyal and had proven trustworthy so far. She was stubborn and determined but that was something he liked about her. She stood her ground and didn't let herself get walked on and stood up for her friends (namely Bruce) and did things thoroughly. She was a hard worker and a major contributor to Captain Roger's adjustment to the twenty-first century as well as his performance. When he had something to fight for, Fury noticed that the good Captain fought a lot harder and was a lot happier and more optimistic during missions. The two of them made a good team all on their own. Another upside to Miss Banks joining SHIELD.

Finally, he turned his head slightly in acknowledgement of Agent Hill. "For now." He pushed off the railing and swept past her, barely grazing her shoulder as he did so. He paused one step down the stairs. "Remind me to give Miss Banks and Ms. Potts clearance to level seven."  
Maria kept her face blank but from her stance, he could tell that she was not happy with the results of their conversation. "Yes, Sir." She took that as her cue to leave and uncrossed her arms before passing him down the stairs.

Fury watched her go. He sighed as another breeze blew by. "Don't let me down you two. Or I'll kill you myself." He continued down the stairway.


	29. Chapter 28

**A/N. Hi :) This chapter's kind of short but I hope you like it! Anyway, I noticed that I pretty much totally abandoned Tania's POV which I tried REALLY hard not to do in the first two stories but for this one it's kind of necessary to know what the others are up to in order to understand the plot. I'll try and go back to Tania the next time we check up on Stania (which actually won't be for a couple chapters... I think) besides this one. And to anyone who's confused, Tania ****_can_**** talk, she just... doesn't want to. She feels like if she talks, she's breaking. It's hard to explain but I'll do my best when her POV comes around. So withot further ado, comes the promised returning JARVIS POV! Yay! Enjoy :D**

**WARNING: Mentions of torture in here. Nothing graphic (in my opinion). But there's torture. Just saying.**

CHAPTER XXVIII

JARVIS was (for lack of a better word) panicking. Because he was an AI, he didn't sleep. Sure, he needed power to function but the comms never needed recharging. In any case, Steve and Tania were getting some much needed sleep while JARVIS kept watch for this very reason.  
From hacking into the cameras, the super computer could see a HYDRA soldier entering the room quietly. He carried no food and a multitude of weapons. JARVIS detected from his body language that he was not here to do anything that Captain Rogers and Miss Banks would particularly like.

From the moment she had fallen into the water, JARVIS had been internally freaking out. To have one of his "operators" die on him would be… incomprehensible. It would change everything. Not that he couldn't adapt to change, he was a computer after all, but it was that… well… change wasn't something he was… fond of. Miss Banks dying would definitely put a huge dent in things.

He had been scanning her body every few seconds, making sure her heat never stopped – it didn't. But it had become increasingly slow until one of the men had started performing CPR and saved her life. If JARVIS could breathe, he'd have let out a sigh of relief right then and there. She was alive. All her bodily functions were working properly but she hadn't spoken in days.

If he could have been worried, he would be. He supposed that most humans would call his present state, "worried", even though that wasn't possible considering he was an AI. He didn't feel emotions. They just wouldn't compute.

Although Mr. Stark had imbedded a program for simulated sarcasm and a little bit of a conscience, JARVIS had yet to find proof that he had actual feelings.

But back to the topic at hand, he had to do something to wake up his two sleeping operators else something bad should happen. "Miss Banks? Captain Rogers?" When he wanted to, he could speak to them both at the same time by projecting his voice through both of their comms at the same time. Neither of them stirred. He added a bit more volume and vibration into the machine's in their ears. "MISS BANKS. CAPTAIN ROGERS."

The soldier grabbed Miss Banks' forearm and yanked her forward just as Captain Rogers' eyes snapped open. He lunged forward instinctively but the chains held him back and he fell on his face.

She began kicking and fighting and clawing but she was dragged out of the room forcefully by the anonymous henchman. The Captain was left lying on his stomach, panting, in the darkness. He shouted in frustration and pounded his fist against the ground, not caring that it hurt to do so.

"I will keep an eye on her for you, Captain Rogers," JARVIS promised, using a saying that only applied to humans (because he didn't have eyes) to better simulate the feeling of not being alone, even though he was. Even though the super soldier couldn't thank him because of the cameras, the AI was aware that he was eternally grateful simply from the slowing of his heart.

In Tania's comm, JARVIS hacked into the cameras and watched – just as he'd said he would. Miss Banks was thoroughly searched (and JARVIS noticed that the men lingered in certain places longer than necessary) before she was roughly shoved and tied to a chair. Without her knife and without her Captain, they knew she couldn't escape.

The two minions spoke to each other in German which JARVIS was couldn't translate without connection to the internet which was being blocked by the signal barrier HYDRA had set up. They nodded to each other before one of them grabbed the hair at Miss Banks' scalp and yanked her head back. She gritted her teeth but didn't make a sound.

The man spat on her and said something threatening in German before the other man approached her with a tool that JARVIS was able to identify as a very large form of tweezers. Her eyes widened and if JARVIS could have felt horror, he would be feeling it now. The man with the tool shoved it in her mouth and clamped down on a tooth before pulling.

Her scream was the first noise she'd really made in days and the AI would have much preferred that it hadn't been said because of pain. But that was not the way it was. With a horrifying yank, the man stumbled back with one of her molars between the tweezer's arms.  
Blood spewed from her mouth and she spit it in the other henchmen's face before using her foot to smack the same place.

"I would not suggest provoking them, Miss Banks," JARVIS warned her with a slightly shaky voice. It was just a simulation. He did not have actual feelings. Mr. Stark simply programmed him to make it sound like he did.

She didn't answer. The man she had kicked held his cheek and swore in Russian. Well, that was JARVIS' best guess. He slapped her across the cheek and with the pain from the tooth they'd just removed, she cried out and spat out more blood.

The other man tossed the tweezers aside and approached her cautiously. He mumbled something in German before tilting her head to the side, this way and that. Suddenly something shined in the light. JARVIS knew what the man had seen.

"Oh dear…" he said into her ear before the Nazis began to work on painfully removing her newly discovered comm. Within seconds, JARVIS was cut off from her, unable to communicate his reassurances. The camera feed stopped for a second but he quickly re-hacked it through Captain Rogers' comm. Even if he didn't want to watch.

* * *

From Steve's position on the floor, he could hear Tania's screams through the walls. He clenched his fists in anger. They were torturing her – and within earshot; just because they wanted to torture him. Oh yes, there were many things worse than death.

A while later, he didn't know how long, she was thrown back in. He crawled forward, hating the chains that held him at bay with everything he had. He couldn't reach her. His arm outstretched and he pulled, tearing at his skin and embedding marks into his wrists but he didn't care. He barely felt it.

She was still conscious and she rolled over with a groan. She looked him in the eyes and he stopped struggling. Her mouth and ear were both bloody and she had bruises all along her arms and legs and both her cheeks were red from repetitive slaps to the face. But her eyes told him that she wasn't as low as she was before – she had stayed strong… for him. She was still broken, but she was not separated. She had all the pieces, she just had to put them back together with help from Steve.

She shakily dragged herself across the floor to reach him. Every move was agonizing, but Steve was in sight and within reach and that was all she cared about. When she reached him she collapsed and rolled onto her back with a sigh. His worried, upside down face engulfed her vision and she smiled at him weakly. It was barely a twitch of her lips but he saw it and he knew. He understood immediately.

She had fought back. She hadn't let them win or get the best of her. Even if she'd given the satisfaction of hearing her screams, she hadn't let them think that she cared. Because she didn't. If they really wanted to torture her, they would torture him. But they didn't want to torture her, they wanted to torture him. Because in hurting her physically, they hurt him emotionally, but they couldn't hurt her emotionally (anymore) because she had been to Hell and back and she knew that there wasn't much worse than that. This hadn't been as bad as "dying" and she was strong enough to hold on.

He was so, incredibly, proud of her. He returned her smile with little more force than she did and moved her head onto his lap. She reached up and brushed a strand of stray hair away from his eyes before cupping his cheek (which was kind of awkward to do because she was looking at him upside down). He hadn't shaved in several days and she could feel the stubble growing on his face. It was a good look on him – but she preferred him clean shaven. Not that that was an option at this point.

He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. They would not be broken or torn apart. They would rise above them all because their love was stronger than anything those HYDRA soldiers could ever know. They would get through this. The million dollar question was how long it was going to take.

* * *

Tony and Rhodey landed back at the German base after an entire night of searching with no luck. With JARVIS' help, Tony was able to remove the War Machine suit with ease, as was Rhodey with the Iron patriot.

Once armour-free, Tony stomped off with his best friend close behind. "Tony, wait-"

"Wait for what? For Steve and Tania to get killed? For them to totally get wiped off the face of the planet? For my suits to die out? For me to grow old with age and die?"

"Tony, I understand you're upset-"

"I'M NOT UPSET!" he shouted, whirling on the military man before exhaling curtly. "I'm just…"

"Pissed?"

"Fuck yeah I'm pissed."

"Tony-"

"When are we going to find them, Rhodes? I'm getting impatient."

Rhodey sighed in frustration at getting repeatedly interrupted. "Tony…" he paused to see if he would get cut off again. The billionaire remained silent. "You have to accept the possibility that Steve and Tania might not be co-"

"LALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU! LALALALALALA!" Tony plugged his ears and strode away in childish denial.

Rhodey sighed again before following him to the designated meeting room of the Avengers. The others had all fallen asleep there waiting for him since yesterday.

Clint had fallen asleep face first on the couch, spread eagle, and was snoring loudly. Natasha sat underneath his legs with head resting against the back of the chair and breathing deeply. Bruce sat in one of the chairs around the round table with his head on his desk, papers strewn all over the surface. Thor was lying across four chairs in a row on his back with one arm dangling over the side and touching the ground – he too, was snoring loudly. Peter slept in the chair next to Bruce (the only one left) with his head thrown back like Natasha's and a whistling nose.

As soon as Tony burst in, they all jumped up. Clint and Natasha (being the master assassins they were), immediately had their hidden guns whipped out and aimed at the supposed threat.

Tony and Rhodey both raised their hands in surrender and peace and the guns were lowered. Bruce yawned before speaking. "God damn it Tony, you kept us up all night waiting for you! Where have you been?" He spun around in the chair to face him while Thor plucked himself up from the ground on which he'd rolled over and face planted.

Tony ignored him before plopping himself down on one of the chairs Thor had vacated and crossing his legs, leaning his chin on one hand while he elbow rested on the arm rest. Rhodey rolled his eyes and approached Bruce and Peter, answering for his friend. "We were searching all night. Tony wouldn't rest. I eventually had to call in the big guns to get him down?"

"Pepper?"

He nodded.

"So I assume you've come up with nothing, then?"

"You assume correctly."

The doctor sighed and rubbed his eyes with his index finger and thumb tiredly. "This is getting us nowhere…"

"It got us here, which is probably a lot closer than where we were before," Natasha pointed out.

"But if we can't find them then coming out here was totally pointless!" He banged his forehead onto the table. "I don't know what to do…"

Fury walked in a moment later, looking as put together as always. He couldn't say the same for the others. He cleared his throat. "Avengers, there has been a murder attack in Berlin. In fact, it's still going on. We need three of you to investigate."

"In case you haven't noticed, Furious George, we're a little busy," Tony said without looking at him and waving his hand in circles carelessly.

Fury didn't react to the nickname. "It may interest you to know that the target is Arnold Austerlitz' wife."

Everyone perked (twitched) a little at the news. "Tony and I should go," Natasha said, standing up. "We've already met her, we have the most experience with her. Clint should take St… should be our third man."

If anyone noticed her slip up, no one said anything. Steve had been with Tony and Natasha in Berlin when they interrogated Magda Austerlitz. But he wasn't here. Clint was the next best thing.

Fury nodded. "Agent Hill will brief you on the quinjet there. If at all possible, bring Mrs. Austerlitz here for interrogation."

"And the kids?"

"Bring them as well."

Natasha nodded and she and Clint spoke in sync. "Yes, Sir."

Tony threw his arms up in the air. "Do I not get a say in this? No? Fine. I'll go. But not because you told me too. Because this is something to do and to occupy my time and because this could be a lead in our case. Alright, I've decided. Move out, troops! Or rather troop."

When Tony was gone along with Strike Team Delta (Clintasha), Fury turned to the rest of them. "Dr. Banner, see if you can better triangulate the accuracy of those coordinates you started."

He nodded and turned back around to face the table.

"Agent Parker, help him in any way you can."

"Right-O!" The teenager saluted before wheeling closer to Bruce.

"Thor, continue the search in the bad part of town here," Fury gestured to the paper map covering the entire wall to the left and circled a certain area with his hand. "Feel free to use teleportation, but don't draw attention to yourself."

"I shall not let you down, Director." Thor stood up, yawned, and walked away, ducking through the "short" doorways.

"Hold it. Lt. Col. Rhodes will be coming with you."

Rhodey nodded, gluing his feet together and pushing his shoulders back. "Sir."

"Go find the Captain and his girlfriend."

Rhodey and Thor left to follow orders, leaving Fury, Bruce, and Peter in their wake. Fury watched for a few minutes before he turned and left the room. The two of them were working themselves to death in there. He stopped an agent in the hallway.

"What do you do on this ship, again?"

"I-"

"Whatever it is, drop it and dedicate all your time to feeding and sustaining the Avengers and their companions. Make sure they eat three times a day and shove them in the bathrooms if you have to. Don't question me, just do it."

The Agent nodded warily before stalking off, probably to get food. Fury watched him go and then went to get his own breakfast. Even a super spy needed to eat.


	30. Chapter 29

**A/N. Hiya :) Here's chapter 29 with some action in it, yay! Enjoy :D**

CHAPTER XXIX

Natasha, Clint, and Tony geared up and hopped onto the first quinjet they saw. On the super speedy and super illegal flight to Berlin, Agent Hill briefed them via video chat on what was going on.

Apparently, Magda Austerlitz had been out with some of her girlfriends before going her separate way. She had elected to walk home when she had been attacked but she managed to get away and bring the chase through the busy city streets. The chase was still going on and the trio of Avengers were to put a stop to it and get the Austerlitz family back to SHIELD HQ for interrogation.

Within minutes, the three of them hopped off the jet and Tony suited up quickly before taking to the skies and shooting forward. According to SHIELD's sources, Mrs. Austerlitz was running down a street not too far from his location. Clint and Natasha followed by the rooftops and would catch up with him later.

Tony landed on the street full of crazed and scared people running every which way. There were many loud cries from all over and the inventor whipped his head back and forth, spinning around and around looking for the blonde woman.

JARVIS helped and he finally located her. She ran straight into a restaurant, quickly followed by five men with guns firing at her. Tony jumped up, catching himself with his thrusters before zooming forward and through the glass windows straight into the restaurant.

"No need to fear, Iron Man is here!" he shouted before landing on the floor. No one paid him any attention (which he didn't like one bit) because they were all scattered and hiding under tables as the five henchmen fired their guns trying to hit Magda.

Tony lifted his right arm, ready to use his repulsors – but he couldn't get a clear shot. There were innocent people hiding behind furniture behind the group of men who had now turned on him.

"Now or never," he said before flying forward and grabbing two men around the waist and lifting upwards, taking them straight through the roof up through the second floor and again through the ceiling to the top of the building before he dropped them onto the roof. They both rolled down before catching themselves on the edge and dangled there. "That should do it."

When Tony flew back down, Clint and Natasha had arrived and were playing bullet tag with the remaining three henchmen. The War Machine suit landed between them, bullets bouncing off him harmlessly as he straightened his knees. He turned his head towards the assassins. "Get Austerlitz and these people out of here. I got this."

The two of them nodded in sync before pocketing their guns and splitting up. Natasha ran for Magda while Clint started ushering people out. Tony turned to the three men. "Looks like it's just you and me boys."

The huge gun on his back whirred and began firing at them over his right shoulder. They all ducked but the one on the right wasn't fast enough and died with a cry of pain behind the table which they were using to hide from the opposition.

"Three down. Two to go."

The two men leaped out from their cover and began firing at the innocents instead of Tony. He was NOT okay with that. He shot forward with one arm out in front of him clenched in a fist and used the power in his thrusters to place it one well aimed punch to the jaw of the guy on the right. The minion spun around from the impact before dropping to the floor.

Tony suddenly found that he had a man on his back with a gun pressed to his helmet and firing. His head vibrated loudly and the shot was so close to his ears and fuzzed out his screen. He cried out and began wobbling, trying to shake the guy off. The suit wasn't originally built for him, so not only did it not fit like all his other suits did, but the armour was restricting in and of itself. He couldn't reach his arms back far enough to claw the guy off and none of his weapons were built to fire at such short range.

War Machine's screen blurred and Tony couldn't see where he was going. He tried to ram the guy on his back into the wall but he missed and fell on his butt.

"Ow. Hey guys, a little help?"

Clint heard the question on his comm from outside after getting everyone else out and drew his bow. He smirked. "I got him."

He let the arrow fly and it lodged into the man's throat with ease, drawing immediate blood. He choked and spluttered before sliding off of Tony's back and hitting the floor in his own puddle of red liquid.

Clint's amazing intuition was what saved him when his instincts told him to dive forward. He leaped back into the restaurant through the window just as a grenade went off in the exact spot he had just been standing. He rolled over the shards of broken glass and away from the explosion and coughed. He felt Tony's hand on his arm helping him up and heard the distinct sounds of the suit whirring ever time it moved.

"You okay there, Katniss?"

"Fine, Tony. Where's Natasha?"

"I'm here." The red head joined them to Clint's right with her gun drawn. "I knocked her out. She's in the supply closet."

"Clever." The archer drew his bow and aimed it at the window.

"Very." A box of missiles raised from his back and rested over his left shoulder like the cannon on his right. "I think those guys I left on the roof got down."

"You think?" Clint asked just as the two men from before hopped in through the door and became visible through the smoke.

They both dove to the side as Tony fired all his missiles in quick succession, completely wrecking the wall and bringing it to bits and pieces. The building began to crumble and shake.

"Tony, what did you do?!" Natasha screeched through clenched teeth. "The whole building is going to collapse!"

"Yeah well JARVIS says otherwise. Two more walls need to come down before that happens."

"TONY!"

The philanthropist turned around just in time to get assaulted with a blue blast that knocked him all the way into the back wall. He groaned as more smoke blocked his vision through the mask.

Up front, Clint and Natasha dove behind the table they'd set up before and began playing bullet tag again, except the other team had some sort of… customized, blue blast weapon. Soon, their table was blow away by the blast and it trapped both spies against the wall.

That was when Tony got up from his huge dent in the wall and stepped in front of them. "Why don't you save yourselves the trouble and just get out of here."

The two men exchanged looks before firing at him again with what he now recognized as a cannon of some sort that fit around each of their arms like his Iron Man suit's gloves. Tony quickly crossed his arms and activated a function that literally dug his feet into the ground so that he wouldn't be blown away. He grunted as he was slowly pushed back toward the table and that sat on top of his two teammates and the floorboards broke as he was pushed further and further away from the enemy.

"Jarvis… activate… the back-up missiles."

"Already on it, Sir."

Another pack of missiles rose over his left shoulder and began firing at the two men over the blue rays that were still coming. There was a blast and Tony shielded his face with his arms despite the suit – human instinct. When the smoke cleared, all he saw was rubble and dust.

Perfect.

He turned to the table and lifted it off of his friends with ease. "Guys?"

They both groaned and stirred, pushing themselves up into sitting positions. The billionaire held out both hands to help them up and they both accepted.

"Nice work guys, I'd say I kicked their asses. But you guys helped too, I mean, someone had to lock a woman in a closet."

Natasha cocked her gun begrudgingly. "Don't test me, Stark."

"Hey, I'm wearing the suit. I'm indestructible right now. I can test you all I wa-"

Natasha and Clint both rushed forward on either side of him and he turned only to watch them both tackle the last man standing at the same time. She jumped and caught his neck with her thighs before contorting her body to propel him onto his back while the archer used his own legs to twist the man's limbs out from under him, knocking him on his back as easily as blowing a piece of paper down. The two assassins landed in different crouches back to back before Clint pulled an arrow from his quiver and fired faster than you could say "I". The man was dead before his head hit the ground.

"Alright fine. So your contribution grew a little. I'd still say that I did all of the work."

Barton and Romanoff ignored him and made their way to the closet while sheathing their weapons. Tony opted to remain in the suit because of all the smoke in the air and the fear that maybe another one would show up. As Clint and Natasha opened the door that led to Magda, the ex-playboy leaned against a pillar with one hand – and completely knocked it over. The entire building began to quake and Black Hawk turned to glower at him.

Tony threw his hands up in the air in a half shrug. "What? It's not my fault!"

"Sir, by my calculations, the building will collapse in approximately thirty-four seconds. Thirty-three. Thirty-two." JARVIS displayed the countdown on Tony's screen.

"Oh boy. Get her out of here, let's go!" He waved his arm in the direction of what used to be the door but was now a giant gaping hole.  
Clint grabbed Magda and carried her bridal style as the three of them made their way toward the outside with Tony bringing up the rear. Just as he was about to get out, he paused, letting the others out ahead of him. "Be right back!"

"TONY!" The two of them exclaimed before War Machine disappeared back inside. Natasha made to follow him when the front entrance caved in and the top of the building began to tip towards them. "RUN!" She and Clint slid and jumped over cars just as the building fell not a meter behind them, sending them crashing to the ground in front of an oncoming car which quickly swerved and hit a fire hydrant which exploded and began to make it rain. The car alarm was the noisiest thing in the city streets at that point.

Clint and Natasha coughed and sat up, looking back at the building. They stared in disbelief, not wanting to think that Tony was really gone. But then something shook in the middle of the pile of rubble and a silver metal hand popped out from the rubble. It pushed against the bricks and War Machine's dented head popped out next. He pulled himself from the rubble and the suit appeared completely warped but he seemed fine. But that was when the pulled one of the men out from under him. He had flown back in to save the man's life – the only one who wasn't dead. And he was a killer.

Tony coughed and lifted the face plate, waving the air in front of his face. "Woo! Was that me? Sorry guys, I had shawarma the other day. Stuff like this tends to happen when I eat that stuff." He dragged the man over the pile towards Clintasha and Magda while people gathered around them in awe and pictures began to flash. So much for a low profile.

"Can you fly?" Clint asked.

"Don't think so. Too battered and bruised for that. But oh, I'm fine, no worries! Thanks for asking."

"Why'd you save him?" Natasha asked, jerking her head towards the man in his hands.

"Figured he'd be a good person to interrogate. Thought we'd bring him back to base."

"So you risked your life to save him?"

"Pffft! I'm in the suit! I'm fine." He moved all parts of his body to demonstrate his point. "Nothing's even broken! It's a win win."

"Whatever. Let's just get back to the jet, get the kids, and fly back. Since our cover's been blown, you can take the suit off."

"Umm… don't think I can. It's gonna be hell to try, anyway. Think I'll do it with Platypus' help when we get back."

"Fine then. Lead the way."

"Why don't you? You're the only one not carrying something extra."

"Stark…"

"Fine! Fine. Sheesh. Looks like it's _someone_'s time of month!"

She shot him in the arm.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"I thought you were The Invincible Iron Man?" she asked sarcastically.

"I am. But it still hurts, you know."

"Sure it does."

"It does!" So the entire way back, he complained about how she shouldn't have shot him even if she knew that it wouldn't hurt him. It took a while to lose the paparazzi that had shown up but they did it and found their quinjet easily. They all hopped in and Natasha restrained both Magda and the unidentified man while Clint started the jet and Tony popped the helmet off.

Ten minutes later, Tony had half an arm and a boot removed as well and Clint dropped off Natasha to go pick up the kids. She hid all her weapons from sight and knocked on the door. A child of no more than ten years old opened the door.

"Kann ich Ihnen helfen?" she looked up at the tall red head with no emotion on her face.

Natasha internally winced. Clint really should have been the one to do this. At least he spoke German. She cleared her throat. "Do you speak English, by chance?"

She nodded her head. "Ya, almost everyone in Germany speaks English."

Well that might have been good to know earlier. "Okay then, well… I need you and your two brothers to come with me."

She stepped back and pressed the door closed a little bit more. "How do you know about my brothers?"

Natasha internally winced again. She was not good with children. Why had Clint stayed behind again? Oh yeah, because he needed to fly the damn jet. He was the one who was good with children, not her. She sighed. "I'm… part of the police. We know everything."

The little blonde girl gave her a disbelieving look. "I'm not stupid. Show me a badge."

Natasha brandished her SHIELD badge to the kid, feeling somewhat ridiculous that she had to prove herself to some ten year old girl. "My name is Natasha Romanoff and I need you and your siblings to come with me. We're going to fly a plane where your mother is waiting for you and go somewhere safe."

She eyed the Black Widow with extreme skeptism. "Just because you have a badge, does not mean I can trust you."

Smart kid. "Look, if you don't come with me I'll be forced to take you with me whether you like it or not, so go get your brothers and come back here."

The girl slammed the door in her face and Natasha sighed. She was going to have to do this the hard way. She kicked the door open with a kiai (a battle cry used in martial arts) and it whacked the wall with a loud THUD before swinging lightly back towards her.

She pushed it open and stepped inside. The house was rather small and she knew exactly where a kid would hide when afraid. At least, she knew where she had hid as a child when she was afraid. She opened the kitchen cupboards underneath the sink and sure enough, there was the little girl hiding with her two twin baby brothers in her arms. She screamed and Natasha quickly sprayed them with knockout gas before taking them all into her arms at once (oof! They're heavy) and carrying them out the front door with some difficulty. It was even harder to climb the rope ladder to get to the floating quinjet with three kids on her person.

When she finally reached the top, Tony practically had a heart attack. "Are you fucking crazy?!" he grabbed the sleeping twins (they were sleeping before Natasha sprayed their sister) from her and set them down on the bench as she climbed the remainder of the way in. Tony took the girl from her too and set her next to her mother. "Using knockout gas on children! What the fuck were you thinking?!"

"It's harmless! I wouldn't use actually strong drugs on children! What kind of person do you think I am?"

"One who sucks with children!"

"She wouldn't come willingly!"

"Because you scared her off!"

"I'm the Black Widow! Not some babysitter!"

They bickered all the way back to base, where Fury and Hill immediately took the Austerlitz family and enemy number five into interrogation – you know, once they woke up.

The henchman woke up first. He was in the questioning room with Clint Barton: one of the scariest and most threatening agents SHEILD had ever had. The anonymous minion was handcuffed to the table in front of him and Clint stood a few feet away with his arms crossed, displaying his well-toned arm muscles.

"Bout time. I was about ready to wake you up myself," he said as the man looked around his surroundings, confused.

"Where am I?"

"Oh, you speak English, good."

"Everyone speaks English in Germany. It is rare you find someone who doesn't."

"I know. But you didn't speak during the fight so it was just nice to see that we weren't going to have to force you to switch tongues." He rested one palm on the table in front of him and the henchman leaned back a little.

"Where am I?" he reiterated, steadily backed up by narrowed eyes.

"That depends. Are you HYDRA?"

"What do you think?"

"Personally, I think you are," Clint pulled back the chair on his side, scraping it against the floor, before plopping down in it backwards so that he leaned his forearms against the top of the back of the chair. "But you're gonna have to confirm that for me."

The man looked around. He didn't see any cameras. "Hail HYDRA!" He banged his fists on the table for emphasis.

Clint didn't even flinch. "Was that so hard? Let's see if you can do just as good with the next question. Who do you work for?"

"I just told you, HYDRA."

"Not the organization. The leader. Who is your leader?"

"I do not know his name. But he calls himself the Neo Red Skull."

"Does he have red hair and red eyes?"

The soldier looked shocked and reeled back, but couldn't go far with his cuffs. "Y-yes…"

Clint smirked at the fear in the other guy's eyes. "Tell me his name."

"I don't know."

"Tell me his name."

"I don't know!"

"TELL ME HIS NAME!" The archer shouted while standing up, knocking his chair over and slammed his fists onto the table.

Anonymous HYDRA minion jumped backward and fell off his chair. "He says he's related to the Red Skull!" he confessed with his arms in front of his face like a makeshift shield. "He claims to be a Schmidt!"

Clint was momentarily thrown off. He was back to his interrogating self within a millisecond. "Get back in your chair." The man scrambled to do so and scooted as far away from the assassin as he could. "I realize now that maybe we didn't start this interrogation off right. Tell me you name, and I'll tell you mine."

After a bit of hesitation, the man seemed to realize that he was fully and truly trapped. "I'll tell you everything you want to know… IF… you tell the others that I died. The HYDRA followers. If they find out about my betrayal I'm done for."

"No problem. But you'll be in SHIELD custody for a while."

"S'better than with them."

"So tell me soldier, what's your name?"

"Luther."

"Good. Last name?"

"I do not have one."

"Everyone has one, dumb ass."

He rolled his eyes. "I do not remember mine. I was never told."

"Okay, never mind. I didn't come here to learn about your ever so interesting back story. Anyway, as promised, my name is Clint Barton, otherwise known as Hawkeye."

"I know. You are very famous."

"Thank you."

"I saw your circus, once."

Clint froze.

"You were very good. Very young too."

"You do realize that I can tell when you're changing subjects, right?"

"You do realize that I am not an idiot and can tell when you are doing the same, right?"

They glared at each other uneasily. "Look, Luther, why did you want to kill Magda Austerlitz."

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "I did not."

"Then what was the point of the mission?"

"To kill her. But I did not want to."

"Why would you need to kill her?"

"She is a liability."

"How so?"

Luther looked Clint straight in the eye. "Her husband is dead. Neo Red Skull ordered the hit on her as soon as he found out."

"How did he die?"

The henchman remained silent for a long time. "I'm sure the only reason you are in Germany is to look for your missing friends, yes?" Clint nodded. "And you know that HYDRA has taken them, yes? Well, in one of their attempts to escape, Captain America killed Mr. Austerlitz."

"How?"

"In the footage, it was a kick to the head. That was all it took."

Clint whistled. "So why does Mrs. Austerlitz have to be involved at all?"

"Neo Red Skull does not want anyone to have any possible connections to HYDRA and does not want anyone to start holding a grudge against him."

"It's a little late for that."

"Anyone else."

"So he needed five guys to take her out?"

"He predicted your involvement in trying to protect the innocent if we made a scene. Which we did. Accidentally, of course."

"Of course. That technology that you used against us, the one that shot blue stuff, what was it?"

Luther shrugged. "I do not know. It was just given to me and I was shown how to use it. It is a powerful weapon. That is all I really need to know."

"Don't give me that bullshit, this is a weapons division."

"Not anymore. You forget that we are not under Hitler anymore. We run everything ourselves and have our own divisions. I am not in the weapons division."

"What are you in, then?"

"… assassination."

"Right, well… now that we know all of that crap, let's cut to the chase." Clint leaned forward over the table so that they were almost nose to nose. "Where are Captain America and his girlfriend being held?"

"I do not know."

Clint ground his teeth. "You have to know."

"You think that because I am HYDRA, I know everything about your enemy. But you are wrong. We have one large base and we have two small encampments. I work in one of those. They are not there, I assure you of that. But I do not know where the other bases would be even if I could tell you which one they were in. So I repeat to you, I do not know."

"Where's your small encampment?"

"… was not paying attention on the flight here. I would imagine it is somewhere in Berlin."

"That doesn't help."

He shrugged. "What can you do? I am of no use to you now. I do not know where your friends are, but if I had to take a wild guess, I would say they are in the rather large base we have."

"Can you at least give me general idea of where you think it might be?"

Luther scrunched up his face in thought. "Perhaps… Hamburg, Germany? I do not know any more than that. It is just something that popped into my head. I might not even be right."

Clint regarded the man for a long time before abruptly pushing away from the table. "That's all for now. Thank you for your cooperation Mister… Luther."

The man nodded and Clint exited the room, dreading having to tell the other Avengers the bad news.


	31. Chapter 30

**A/N. Heyy :) Hope you liked the last action-filled chapter because here comes another action-filled chapter. Enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER XXX

Pepper, Graham, and Betty were in the lab, half brainstorming and half freaking out about the press outside blocking all exits and clogging their phone lines and Pepper's inbox and voicemail and absolutely EVERY means of communication was filled to the brim with some form of paparazzi. Pepper had never seen them this crazy. And that was saying something.

Felicity needed to pay. And she knew she just to do it. The CEO called up Director Nick Fury. Once she gave in her code for level six clearance, she was patched through to Agent Hill, who patched her through to Director Fury. Graham and Betty watched with interest.

"Fury."

"Director Fury, it's Pepper Potts."

"How can I help you, Ms. Potts?"

"Remember when I organized the entire clean-up for all of the Avengers after the Chitauri incident for you and you said you owed me one? I'm calling it in."

"What for?"

"I need you to deport somebody."

"Again, what for?"

"For selling out private SHIELD information to the public. The whole world knows that Captain America and Sonata have been kidnapped by a resurrected HYDRA and their panicking like crazy. She sold us out to the press and now I need you to deport her."

"And how did she get this information?" Fury asked in a stern voice.

Pepper fidgeted with the hem of her blouse nervously. "Well… her name is Felicity Deed. She's also Tania's mother so… we mistakenly thought we could trust her and- don't you sigh on me! I don't need to hear it! You don't think I feel guilty enough about this? I'm calling in that HUGE favour, no questions asked."

"You do realize that I could throw you in prison right now, right?"

Pepper blanched. "What?"

"But since I know Stark will either bail or break you out, there's really no point. But I'm giving you a strict warning, Ms. Potts. Break protocol again and we'll be having a very serious talk."

"Understood director. And my favour?"

"Consider it done."

"Thank you." She hung up the phone with a huge grin on her face. "It worked!"

The others cheered. "Okay, now back to work," Betty said seriously. "So because we're dealing with HYDRA, I think we should try and contact world war two veterans, see if anyone could know something about them that we don't."

"Good idea, Betty," Graham encouraged with a smile. He immediately set to work along with Pepper and JARVIS to navigate cyber space for WWII veterans.

Betty smiled sheepishly before taking a sip of tea and joining in as well. She was a nuclear scientist, she was expected to be the smartest of the three of them. It was never spoken aloud, but she could tell from how they looked to her for guidance that she was supposed to be the one to eventually find Steve and Tania. That was a lot of pressure. But of course, it would be worth it if she actually did find them.

Even though Betty had only been living at the Tower for a few months, she hadn't had much time to get to know Tania or Steve. Sure, she'd spent a lot of time with the woman because she practically organized her whole wedding for her along with Pepper and there was the whole, "get ready for theatre that everyone seems to think is prom" thing. It was like a teenage sleepover. Betty honestly liked Tania. She seemed like a really good person who was strong and brave and good at heart, inside and out. And she was grateful to anyone who was willing to watch over her Bruce for her. And then there was Steve. He and Betty didn't talk much but he seemed like a really, really nice guy. And Bruce had told her that Steve had never cared that he was the Hulk, not even when they first met, and that was something she had to admire. He was friendly and charming and his blush was so darn cute! It was so hard not to pinch his cheeks whenever he was embarrassed. He was so innocent in so many senses but… not… in other sense. The man himself had been through WWII and yet he still had this childlike air of innocence about him whenever he looked at technology or modern pop culture or things like that. He was just something that you immediately wanted to shield from life, to protect. It was probably some motherly instinct deep inside of her, but she wasn't exactly going to fight it. She was fond of everyone. They were one big dysfunctional family. And she would risk her life for all of them in a heartbeat.

As they searched for veterans and began making a list (so far they had two- oh wait, make that three), a sudden explosion seemed to rock the entire Tower and the trio inside teeter dangerously.

"What was that?!" Graham exclaimed.

"Jarvis?" Pepper looked up at the ceiling.

"We are under attack, Ms. Potts."

"By HYDRA?"

"No. By Mr. Hammer and his droids." An image of security footage began playing on the holographic screen. There were dozens of Hammeroids

blasting the Tower. Justin had obviously had them remade and in bigger numbers too. They looked bulkier and were all completely black and shiny. They had what looked like jet packs on their backs that allowed them to fly and appeared much taller, with the heads looking like actual helmets inside but there was no doubt in Pepper's mind that there wasn't actually anyone in them.

Suddenly, Justin's face popped on screen. "BOO! Did I scare you? Haha, either way, Ms. Potts, you are surrounded. So why don't you get out while you still can?"

"This is just bad publicity for you Hammer," Pepper shot back with venom. "And you have chosen the absolute worst time to do this!"

He laughed. "I know! That's why I'm doing it! All of your precious Avengers are out trying to find their missing teammate and his girlfriend and YOU, my friend, are defenseless."

"The press are all around the Tower! You'll kill them all!"

He shrugged. "Every war has casualties."

"HAMMER!"

The Tower rocked again and this time, Betty did fall, spilling her tea all over the floor and smashing the mug to pieces.

"Whoops," Justin said, "my bad. But you had your chance. No one will recognize these drones as my own. They look completely different. So I get to destroy SI without anyone believing that I destroyed SI. It's a win win! For me, I mean. If you don't come out with your hands up, I'll be forced to detonate the Tower." He pouted. "It would be such a shame to have to kill you, Virginia. We could have been amazing business partners."

"Go to Hell," she spat.

"Have it your way." The screen closed and the three of them could hear the blasts attacking the bullet proof windows.

"What do we do?!" Graham panicked.

"The Tower is in Lock Down. He can't destroy it," Pepper shouted over the noise.

"I have a feeling he's not going to just say, 'Aw damn, they're too hard.' And then leave. He's going to keep at it until he destroys us! Those are robots, right? They'll never get tired!"

"He has a point," Betty yelled while she used the counter to pull herself to her feet again. "We have to do something!"

"Like what?" Pepper wanted to know. Another explosion sent them all to the ground.

"ANYTHING!" Graham cried.

Pepper's face lit up. "Jarvis, is the Rescue Protocol still available?"

"Yes. Ms. Potts. But due to storage difficulties, I can only activate it when you are outside."

She paled. "Oh fuck." She pushed herself to her feet and ran for the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Graham shouted.

Pepper turned around in the elevator and pressed the button for the party deck. "Find Clint and Natasha's weapons! Shoot them down and keep them away from the arc reactor!" She shouted right before the doors closed. She was already hyperventilating. How did Tony do this so often? She finally reached the floor she was on and stepped out just as another explosion caused the elevator cord to break and send it crashing down to the first floor. Pepper watched in horror but was put back on task by the blasts from the Hammeroids.

She turned and ran for the glass doors, blocked by the metal JARVIS had installed earlier. "Jarvis, let me out!"

"Are you sure you want to-?"

"JARVIS!"

"Alright."

The metal lifted and Pepper shoved the double doors out of her way and stumbled onto the mini helipad for Tony's Iron Man armour. It was utter chaos outside. Droids were flying this way and that, arms held out straight in front of them and blasting grey bolts into the Tower and shooting bombs at them while criss crossing over each other and the sheer number of them nearly made Pepper dizzy.

She shook her head free. One of the droids was looking at her. It raised its arm and began firing. Pepper ran and jumped off the pad. "Deploy!" She landed on the actual helipad several meters below, where Loki and Thor had fought during the Chitauri incident, and rolled several times to soften the blow. It still hurt like hell. "Jarvis, DEPLOY!" The robot kept shooting at her and she pushed herself to her feet and ran forward. The edge of the roof came ever closer. There was nowhere else to go. "DAMN IT, DEPLOY!" She jumped off the roof as a bomb exploded a few feet behind her, creating a kind of pretty orange smoke above her but she was a little too busy falling to take notice.

So this is what Tania felt like except she hadn't known it was coming at the time. Pepper screamed and flipped and flailed and "Oh God I'm going to die!" ran through her head multiple times. But that was when something metal clamped around her ankles and crawled its way up her back and this was the creepiest thing she thought she'd ever felt. It suited itself up over her entire body, encasing her in the suit she knew Tony would never destroy – her own.

She waved her arms and legs frantically to try and get the thrusters working and managed to spark them enough to turn around and fly back up. After flying all the way to Malibu in an Iron Man suit, she (and the others) were pretty good at utilizing the suits. Not to mention Pepper's turn to use the Mark forty-two during the attack on Malibu Point.

She shot back up into the sky in her red and white (silver, really) suit, a feminine version of the Mark Five design. She began using her repulsors to blast at the drones while trying to catch her breath inside the suit. The HUD limited her peripheral vision while at the same time allowed her to see so much more details and heat signatures and things like that.

JARVIS helped talk her through different attack strategies and she was totally freaking out because she knew she was alone against an innumerable amount of foes and Tony wasn't here.

Inside, Graham raced to the stairs to follow Pepper's orders while calling back to Betty, "Stay here! Use the comms to communicate and watch the battle through the surveillance tapes. Warn us of the things we can't see!"

"What are you gonna do?!" she cried, making a move to follow him.

He whirled on her. "I'm going to help." He rammed his shoulder into the door to the stairs and began running. It was quite a few flights to Clint and Natasha's floor. Several flights later, panting, Graham told JARVIS to override all security systems before bursting into the weapons arsenal.

He looked around. "Damn." He grabbed the first familiar thing he saw (what looked like a paint gun but obviously wasn't) and another smaller hand gun as a back-up as well as several cases of ammo, a few grenades, and something he knew Natasha called, "Widow Bites". He grabbed them all, stuffing them on his person before equipping himself with a Kevlar vest and a hard hat (yeah, he looked ridiculous but he didn't exactly care at the moment) and ran back for the stairs. He sucked in a breath before running down a whole bunch until he reached the lobby.  
"Jarvis, let me through!"

Without answer, the doors opened and he ran outside into the fray. All the people were fleeing in random directions and the Hammeroids were attacking. With a mighty battle cry in imitation of his childhood favourite Avenger (Thor), Graham began firing the gun in the air at all the robots. The bullets bounced off them harmlessly but he got their attention and some of them stopped firing at the Tower.

"SHIT!" He turned and ran around the Tower while they followed in flight. "SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT!" This wasn't going according to plan. What was his plan again?

"Graham, behind you!" Betty's voice shouted in his ear and he dove to the side just as bullets peppered the pavement where he had just been. He rolled over and grabbed one of his grenades. He pulled off the key with his teeth before tossing it at one of the robots. They exploded into little bits. Okay. So grenades worked. Good to know.

"Where's Pepper?" He yelled as he began running again. He was running in circles around the Tower but he didn't care. As long as he was alive.

"I'm up here!" Suddenly, Rescue plopped down in front of him so fast that he ran right into her.

"OW! What the hell?"

"No time to explain, just hang on!" She grabbed him and shot upward, twirling in the air as they flew and dodged more repulsor rays being shot at them. "I'm dropping you off on the roof! Here!" A compartment in her side opened and she reached in and handed him what looked like more grenades. "They're heat-seeking. Don't waste them. Off you go!" She dropped him a few feet from the roof and kept flying, shooting at the enemy as she went.

"Thank you!" he cried after her before whirling around and tossing one of the grenades she gave him at a droid that sneaked up on him. "Take that Robo-Ass!"

At such close proximity, Graham was blown back in the explosion and he scraped his back and arms against the floor of the roof, rolling dangerously close to the edge. He groaned and rolled away, backward somersaulting when he saw the repulsor headed his way. He just barely judged it before he jumped off the roof and landed on the back of a Hammer Droid. "Thanks for the lift!"

He took out his knife and stabbed it in the throat. It sizzled and sparked before it went crashing down onto the roof. He jumped off just in time to land on his feet on the helipad. "Boo yeah!"

That was when he felt two metallic hands grab his biceps from behind and lift him off the ground while flying forward. "Hey! Woah! No need to get handsy! Let go! Pepper!" The robot dropped him and he totally didn't squeal like a girl (he would deny it until the day he died) but managed to grab hold of the remaining "A" left on the Tower with one hand. "WAAAAAHHH!"

His muscles strained and his shoulder pulled away from his torso dangerously. He grunted and dropped the gun he was holding in his left hand in order to use both and lift himself up onto the top of the letter, where he sat dangerously. "Fuck off, Hammeroids!" He pulled out his pistol with his left hand and a grenade in the other and threw it into the air before shooting it, causing it to explode earlier than planned but to take out two droids at the same time. "Take that!"

An explosion above his head cause him to duck and cover and hang on to the big "A" for dear life. Betty's voice suddenly invaded his ear. "Happy's here! And he's got a gun! And the police are here too! They're helping out on the ground but they don't know what to do!"

"I got it," Graham said before he leaped off the building. He had always wanted to go skydiving. "WEEEEEEEE!" No, he was not squealing.

He grabbed the ankle of another robot (thankful that their thrusters were in their backs, not their boots) and hung on for the ride. "Say hello to my little friend!" He reached up with the pistol and shot the thing between its legs. It came down immediately. He climbed onto its back as the jets stopped working and hung on as they fell from the sky. He ripped the pack off started banging it while he let the rest of the body fall before him. He hit it hard enough and it shot him upward again.

"Woah! Wrong WAAAAAAAAAAAY!" He was doing loop-de-loops and twirls and totally not knowing how to steer this thing, he let go of it somewhere near the ground and rolled around a lot, scraping his skin against a bunch of tiny, dirty rocks.

He coughed and pushed himself to his feet. He lost his pistol somewhere in that fall. Great. He looked around. There were at least half a dozen police cars parked around the front entrance to the Tower with several policemen armed with guns firing at the robots. Over to the side, behind a bullet proof limo, was Happy, also firing at the robots with a gun.

Graham made his way over to the chauffeur/bodyguard and dove behind the car to hide with him. "Got room for one more?"

"Oh yeah, plenty of space." He popped his head over the top and began shooting again. Graham followed suit with his grenades before they plopped back down again. "Hammer?"

He nodded. "Hammer."

"Son of a bitch."

"I know right?"

They continued with another round of shooting before Happy finally noticed Graham's weapon of choice. "That seems to be a lot more effective."

"Yup. I've only got a few left though."

"The police might be able to get their hands on a few more if you tell 'em."

"Good idea. I forgot that was why I came here in the first place. Cover me." Graham waited until the coast was clear before springing for the safety of the nearest police car.

"Get out of here kid, we'll handle this."

"I'm not a-! Look, grenades are going to be a lot more effective against these guys than any bullets you've got."

"How would you know?"

Graham leaned over the top of the car and threw a heat-seeking grenade at one of the robots, blowing it up on impact. He hid behind the car again. "I play a lot of video games."

The policeman still eyed him warily. "Where did you get grenades?"

The police car next to them exploded, sending the other cars flying and flipping over their heads, barely missing their bodies as they dove for cover.

"Does that really matter right now? Just get grenades and aim for their necks and crotches!"

"What?!"

"JUST DO IT!" Graham ran forward and threw his last grenade. It began raining sparks above him. "FUCK!" He ran into the lobby just as three droids began firing repulsors at him at the same time. The glass shattered behind him and he kept running before he hid behind the front desk. It was somewhat similar to Tania's situation in Philadelphia – except Graham was prepared for it.

He listened as the robots stepped closer, their mechanical whirring giving away the element of surprise, before he grunted and shoved the desk in their faces. Okay, he wasn't strong enough to throw a desk that high, but he worked out. He was pretty strong. The furniture smashed into their torsos and they all staggered back as one. That was when Graham jumped onto one and stabbed his knife into their neck before yanking it out and jabbing it into the next one. He fell back and threw it at the last one, but the robot caught it and midair and threw it back.  
Graham cried out as it rammed into his right arm and pain exploded in that very spot. He ducked a repulsor ray and crawled between its legs but it grabbed the back of his shirt and lifted him off the ground, turning him to face the robot.

"Heyy… no hard feelings right? I blow up a few of your buddies, you destroy my home a bit… we're even right?" he asked nervously.

"Graham!" Betty shouted through the comm. "You still have the knife! His neck is right in front of you!"

"Oh fuck…" he grabbed the hilt of the knife and yanked it out, shouting in pain as he did so before stabbing the throat of the robot that held him. He dropped to the ground immediately and cried out in pain, blood seeping from his arm. The robot sparked and fell on its back before dying. Hammer tech sucked. "Ow! Betty! I could use a doctor!"

"I'm not a doctor!"

"You've got a P.H.D, don't you?"

"Well, yes-"

"You know what, never mind." He pushed himself to his feet, gritting his teeth through the pain. "I've gotta keep going."

"No! You're hurt!"

"Who's going to stop me?"

"Jarvis, stop him!"

"Too late!" Graham jumped through the broken glass and back into the fray. "Hey Pepper, got any more of those bombs?"

"No, sorry! Used them all. But if you need a lift, I'm your gal."

"That would be awesome! But watch the arm, watchthearm, watchtheARM!" Pepper grabbed his left arm (the one without the blood spewing from a wound) and pulled him up into the skies while the witnesses below watched in awe.

"Where to?"

"Clint and Nat's floor? I need to stock up."

"Sure thing."

She stopped just in front of a floor-to-ceiling window that led into Clint's solarium and apologized to him under her breath before blasting it open. She dropped him off inside before turning around. "I'll cover you. When you get back out I'll drop you off on the very top!" She flew just out the window and began firing.

"Gotcha!" Graham ran into the hallway and back into arsenal to stock up again. "Man I go through these fast. How do these guys keep this place so full? I can only imagine how many of these things they go through all the time."

That's when he saw it. "Wicked!" He grabbed the pair of nunchucks hanging on the wall beside Clint's many back-up bows (he wasn't going to touch those – Clint would literally kill him).

Graham had taken karate as a kid at the same time Tania took dancing. Aunt Gemma had wanted them to do at least one extra-curricular each, so he picked martial arts. He took it for ten years, just like Tania with her lessons and he still remembered most of it. He had been at his blue belt when he went off to University and had to quit. He had just been too busy with school and all that stuff. But he remembered how to use nunchucks. Sure, he wasn't an expert, per say, but he knew what he was doing.

"Let's get this party started!" He grabbed a backpack and filled it to the brim with grenades before sticking another two knives in his belt loops and grabbed his nunchucks. All set.

He ran back out to Clint's solarium and approached the broken glass. "Pepper!"

She appeared immediately. The numbers of the droids seemed to have diminished quite a bit since he had left. "Ready?" she asked.

"Ready steady!" he jumped toward her and she caught him before zooming upward, avoiding the bombs being thrown at them as she used her evasive maneuvers and dropped him off on the very top of Avengers Tower.

"Don't fall!" She called before flying off.

"Seriously, don't fall!" Betty echoed in his ear before he began throwing grenades.

"You guys worry too much!" He threw another one. "Just cause I've never done this before, doesn't mean I'm gonna fail!"

"You're not wearing a suit like Pepper!"

"I'm wearing Kevlar!"

"That won't stop you from dying!"

"Betty! Calm down!" He whipped out his nunchucks. "Watch the ninja at work. Hi-ya!" He whacked an approaching robot in the head with his new weapon. "Just like old times." He dodged a repulsor ray before kicking the robot in the chest. "Jarvis, how many are left?"

"Six, Mr. Banks."

"I like those odds." He used his knife and stabbed the robot in the neck. "Keep the countdown going."

"Five. The policeman just neutralized one on the ground. Three. Ms. Potts took out two behind you. One. Mr. Hogan brought down another two."

"One…" Graham watched as the last robot flew up in front of him. "You're going down, ugly."

"Maybe so," Graham nearly fell off the roof himself when the Hammeroid started talking – with Hammer's voice. There must be a speaker in there somewhere, "But you're coming down with him." The robot shoved Graham off the building before heading off to distract Pepper.

Graham screamed and whipped past all the windows and walls at an incredible speed. "HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Down below, Happy and the others watched in horrified suspension. "Clear out!" One officer yelled before ushering everyone out of the way. There was no way Graham could survive that fall. Happy was transfixed, unable to take his eyes away or remove the painful feeling in his gut.

Still in the lab, Betty screamed. "NOOOOO!" she gripped the counter with white hands. "Pepper, do something!"

"Jarvis!"

"On it."

Pepper landed on the helipad as the armour began to remove itself from her body, pulling her limbs in different directions and causing her to spin around like when the Mark forty-two was pulled away from her and to Tony in Malibu. When everything was peeled away, she fell forward with her head over the edge of the roof and she watched as her suit raced after the falling Graham. But it was still too far.

"PEPPER!"

She spun around just in time to be grabbed by the big robot – the last one. She squirmed in its iron grip around her waist and kicked uselessly.

Down below, Graham hit the ground with a BOOM.


	32. Chapter 31

**A/N. Hi :) Here's the answer to your cliff hanger from last chapter. Enjoy :D**

CHAPTER XXXI

In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Blink. Inhale. Blink. What was next? Oh, right. Exhale. Eyes blinked open. Vision was fuzzy, body was numb, and hearing was down. Arm tried to move. No luck. Other arm? No luck.

Cough. OW FUCK THAT HURT! Oh God, everything hurt… Cough again. Hearing suddenly became a little clearer. Vision suddenly stopped fizzing. Oh. There was a screen. That explained the fuzziness. Cough- OW!

"Wha-?" he managed before coughing again. Oh God, make the pain STOP. He couldn't move. Everything hurt. Breathing hurt. The ringing was starting to go away.

"Graham! Graham can you hear me?"

"Betty?" he managed weakly.

"Oh my God you're alive!" She sounded like she had tears in her eyes. She was panting too. Was she running? "Thank God! Oh Thank God!'

"What… happened?"

"No time to explain! Pepper's in danger!"

"What?" he tried to sit up but cried out when it became excruciatingly painful and white flashes danced before his eyes.

"Don't move! You'll hurt yourself more! It's a miracle you're still alive!"

"H-how?"

"Pepper sent her armour to you." There was the sound of muffled feet pounding on stairs. "I guess it managed to save you just in time. Can't talk now, but listen closely!"

Betty burst onto the helipad, having run faster than she ever had in her life. The robot still held Pepper over the edge by her waist and Justin Hammer's voice was emanating from the droid. He was probably gloating (from a safe distance, of course). But for this she was glad, otherwise she might have had time to run here all the way from the lab.

"Hey Hammer!" she shouted. The robot turned its head one hundred and eighty degrees. That was creepy on SO many levels. "Go fuck yourself." She raised her right arm which was gloved in some sort of project Bruce and Tony had been working on and left in the lab she had been in before. She opened her palm and fired. A bright red laser shot out from her hand and zapped the robot, slicing its head off in one go. It fell to its knees and Pepper managed to clamber back onto the roof despite still being in its grip.

Betty ran forward and sliced off both of its arms, releasing her friend. She then proceeded to cut up the robot into little pieces before throwing them off the edge – just because she could. She kicked the helmet off as hard as she could as if it were a soccer ball. "Got to Hell."

Pepper nearly tackled Betty in a hug. "Thank you. Thank you." They were both breathing hard and the brunette still had the metal glove on but neither cared. They pulled away and Pepper put a hand to her ear. "Graham? Are you there?'

"Uhn- yeah. Barely."

"We'll be right down."

"Don't… ugh, bother… mmm… with the s-stairs. I'll sent the- suit up." His speech was broken and somewhat garbled and interrupted by groans and grunts of pain, but he got the message across.

Both women immediately began protesting but the next thing either of them knew, the Rescue suit was floating in front of them. Pepper turned to Betty. "Do you want to do the honours?"

"No thank you. This glove was enough for me. It's your suit."

"Suit yourself." She shrugged. "Wait, I didn't-"

Betty laughed. "I know, Pepper. I know."

The CEO literally jumped into her suit, having it mold around her before she turned around and grabbed Betty gently. She slowly flew them down to the ground next to where Graham was lying with several people (namely Happy and the policemen) surrounding him and his giant crater he'd created from his fall.

Once the girls were armour free, they rushed to the fallen student's side. "Graham? Hun, it's going to be okay," Betty tried to reassure while wiping her tears with the back of her sleeve. "You're okay. You saved us."

"I…" he coughed, "fuck. I mean… I saved… the da-" he hicciped before grimacing painfully.

Pepper nodded, her own tears streaming down her face. "Yes," she agreed. "You saved the day. You're a real hero."

"We… all… did." Blood began trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Betty and Pepper panicked. "Officer, what's wrong with him?!" Mrs. Banner demanded.

The nearest cop cleared his throat. "Well, he seems to have several broken ribs but no punctured lungs, which is good. He sprained his wrist and he's got one hell of a concussion but if we get him to the hospital right now he should be fine."

Pepper, Betty, and Happy sighed in relief. "What are we waiting for?" the chauffeur asked.

"The paramedics," the officer answered.

"Oh."

"Maybe we should get you two checked out as well."

Pepper and Betty exchanged glances. "Not yet. There's something we have to do first."

* * *

Felicity giggled and Justin sucked on her neck and they rolled around on the bed. She meowed before they rolled again and fell right off before bursting out laughing.

The door to his bedroom was thrown open and several armed SHIELD agents ran inside, followed closely by a very pissed Pepper Potts and Betty Banner.

Felicity and Justin tore themselves apart and gathered the sheets around them as they took in what was going on. Slowly, they both raised their hands. Two SHIELD agents grabbed them and pulled them to their feet while they desperately tried to hide their naked bodies with the same sheet from all these people.

"Hey, hey, easy now! We didn't do anything wrong!" Justin tried to reason with one hand up while the other clutched the sheet tightly.  
Pepper walked right up to him with her arms crossed. "Jarvis, play the recording."

Suddenly, Hammer's voice began playing through Pepper's phone. "BOO! Did I scare you? Haha, either way, Ms. Potts, you are surrounded. So why don't you get out while you still can?"

"This is just bad publicity for you Hammer! And you have chosen the absolute worst time to do this!"

"I know! That's why I'm doing it! All of your precious Avengers are out trying to find their missing teammate and his girlfriend and YOU, my friend, are defenseless."

"The press are all around the Tower! You'll kill them all!"

"Every war has casualties."

"HAMMER!"

"Whoops, my bad. But you had your chance. No one will recognize these drones as my own. They look completely different. So I get to destroy SI without anyone believing that I destroyed SI. It's a win win! For me, I mean. If you don't come out with your hands up, I'll be forced to detonate the Tower. It would be such a shame to have to kill you, Virginia. We could have been amazing business partners."

"Go to Hell!"

"Have it your way."

The recording stopped. Justin laughed nervously. "I'm sure this is just some big misunderstanding! We can work something out! I- Oh! Geez!" He was grabbed by the arm and shoved forward. "Watch it! Don't manhandle the merchandise! He and Felicity were led out of the mansion Justin lived in, complaining and whining and denying everything.

Pepper and Betty high-fived.

* * *

The CEO, the nuclear scientist, and said CEO's bodyguard, sat in the hospital waiting room for hours. Pepper sighed and held her head in her hands. "I should never have put him up there. I should have left him on the ground."

Betty placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault. He had the best vantage point up there and he was confident in his skills. You believed in him. There's no way that could be wrong."

"But I-"

"Pepper. Listen to me. I'm Bruce's wife. I know how to talk people out of guilt better than anyone."

The red head sucked in a breath before nodding shakily. "Right. Of course, you're right. But… you know what?"

"What?"

"I have an idea. It's… kind of a useless one, but it might be able to help Tony and the others find Steve and Tania."

"What is it?" Happy asked, curious.

"I'm going to have Jarvis fix up the suit and then send it to Tony. He's been working on my suit since the whole Mandarin thing since he doesn't want to build his own and take time away from spending time with me, but at the same time he wants me to be safe so he upgraded mine to be just like the Mark Forty-Two. I can control it from afar and call it at will with certain motions as well as send it away." She sniffed. "I can control it from afar and send it to help out with the Avengers if they ever need back-up."

"That's a good idea Pepper. I mean, you never know when something like that could come in handy, right?"

"Right. Jarvis? Deploy Rescue Mark Two and send it back to the lab for modifications. As soon as possible, send it to Tony's location."

"Yes, Ms. Potts."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "I suppose we should call Jane, keep her up to date."

"Also a good idea," Betty agreed. She took out her phone and checked to see if the astrophysicist was on Skype. She was. "Perfect." She held the phone out in front of her so that all three of them were on camera with Pepper in the middle.

Jane's face popped up on screen. "Hey, what's-? Holy crap! What happened to you guys?"

Darcy suddenly appeared and looked at the screen. "Dang. You all look like you've been hit by a bus. Like, fifty times." Her eyes grazed over the three of them. "Hey, where's Graham cracker? He's like, ice breaker extraordinaire."

Pepper looked down, leaving Betty to explain what happened. When she was finished, both girls in Puente Antigo were speechless. After a few more seconds of stunned silence, Jane slammed her papers down on her desk. "Okay that's it. We're catching the first flight to New York."

"Oh, Jane, you don't have to-"

"I know. I want to."

"Me too!" Darcy butted in. "I'm missing out on all the fun!"

"I'll invite Eric too," Jane continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "Maybe we can help find Steve and Tania."

"Guys, that's really nice of you, but-"

"Don't you try and get us not to come now! Because we're coming and that's final. I don't care if your Tower was destroyed and I have to sleep in a hammock over a bunch of rubble, I'm coming over there."

"So am I!"

"Thanks guys," Pepper smiled. "But what about your research?"

"It has officially been put on hold."

"I can't expect you to-"

"Pepper. We're coming. Deal with it." Jane cut off the chat.

Pepper sighed. "Well then, it appears we have three guests coming over."

"Make that four," Happy raised his hand. "I'm not leaving your side Pepper. I've been doing a terrible job at… well, my job. And I need to make up for it. I thought that because you were in the Tower, I didn't need to be on the clock – but I was wrong. I'm sorry Pepper."

"Don't worry Happy, I'm fine. And I _was_ safe inside the Tower. I just… left it without telling you."

"Well either way, I'm staying. I want to help find Steve and Tania too. They're like… closer than acquaintances but I don't see them often enough to call them close friends so they're just…"

"Friends?"

"Yeah. Friends."

"Alright. Thank you Happy." She grabbed his hand. "You are doing a marvelous job."

Before he could say anything back, a doctor came into the waiting room and said, "Graham Banks?"

The three of them stood up and ran over to him. "That's us. Is he okay?" Betty asked immediately.

"Yes, he's fine. He's in a couple casts and he's resting. He'll heal with time."

"How much time?"

"He should be completely healthy in six to eight weeks."

Happy whistled. "He goes back to school next week. Can he walk?"

"I wouldn't recommend it for a little while but he can. It would just be very painful."

"For the whole eight weeks?"

"Gradually the pain will decrease but essentially yes, for the whole eight weeks."

"Damn. How long does he have to stay in the hospital?"

"I'd say at least two weeks."

"He won't like that," Pepper mumbled. "Dr. Yiu," she read his nametag, "Avengers Tower has some of the most advanced technology in the world – that includes medical technology. If you let us take him home he'll be extremely well taken care of, I assure you."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Potts, but it's not hospital policy to let patients go earlier than is recommended by a doctor." He tapped his nametag with the pen in his right hand. "Just like it's not hospital policy to let people use cell phones."

The three of them exchanged glances. Whoops.

"There must be some way to convince you," Betty tried. "I'm a doctor! Does that help?"

He raised an eyebrow. "A medical doctor?"

"Well… no, but-"

"Then I'm afraid not."

"So what you're saying is, if we had a medical doctor at the Tower you'd let us take him?" Pepper asked.

"I suppose-"

"What about Dr. Foster? Dr. Selvig?"

"Happy, they're astrophysicists."

"Oh, right."

"It would be nice to have Bruce here…" Betty mumbled, thinking about her husband across the ocean. It hadn't hit her until now how much she missed him.

Happy suddenly spoke up. "Wait! My brother! Royce! He's a doctor! A real- er," he faltered at Betty's sudden glare, "I mean, medical doctor. If he came into the Tower to watch over Graham, would that be okay?'

Dr. Yiu pushed his lips to the side in thought. "Hmm… I suppose… I'll have to get back to you on that. In the meantime, would you like to see him?"

"Yes please!" They all nodded frantically. The doctor led them around several corridors before dropping them off at Graham's door. "Don't overwhelm him," he warned. "And he's sleeping. He's also on a lot of medication so if he wakes up, he's probably going to be a little loopy."

Pepper nodded her head. "Good to know."

The trio stepped into Graham's room quietly while Dr. Yiu went off to discuss their suggestion. Pepper and Betty each took a chair on either side of the bed while Happy opted to stand over his boss' shoulder.

Pepper took Graham's hand in hers and cried some more. He was bare chested but torso was so completely wrapped in bandages that he looked like a mummy. His right arm was also bandaged and there was a visible lump on the back of his head. Both of his biceps were bruised and his lip was split.

Despite all this, he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. But that might be because it was drug-induced. His lower half was covered by a blanket and his left wrist was in a brace. Hair was matted and messy and he was a little paler than normal.

"I'm sorry," Pepper mumbled before she full on started crying. "I'm so sorry!" She laid her head against the bed and sobbed into the sheets as Happy rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Oh Pepper…" Betty whispered as she watched her friend. The happily married wife gently brushed Graham's brown hair away from his face, running her fingers through it softly.

He was rather handsome. With chocolate brown eyes to match Tania's, tanned skin, hazelnut light brown hair, toned muscles, towering height of at least six feet two inches, and chiseled jaw, he was sure to be catching all the ladies' attention at school. And his heart… it was just so big. He wanted to help people. He wanted to be a hero not for the glory or the fame, but because he could do good for his country. Betty nearly started crying just thinking that but she held the tears at bay.

The three of them sat there for several minutes until the doctor came back. None of them had moved an inch. "Well," Dr. Yiu started, "your suggestion… was approved."

Everyone snapped their heads up. "Really?" Pepper asked, hands clasped together under her chin.

Dr. Yiu nodded reluctantly. "Really."

"Yay!"

"But you can't take him until tomorrow."

"Aww…"

"Visiting hours will be over at eight. Then you must all go home unless you are family."

"But what if he wakes up in the middle of the night with no one he knows?" Betty protested.

"Are any of you family?"

"No."

"Then you can't stay overnight. I'm sorry."

Betty stood up angrily. "His father is MIA, his mother is on her way to jail, and his sister has been kidnapped! And you're telling me we can't stay here because we're not family?! The Avengers are one giant family and you can't kick us out because this guy has no one else! What kind of heartless person are you?"

The doctor's blank face crumbled a little. "I am truly sorry, but I cannot break the rules. But I… well… I cannot break… the rules."  
Pepper's face lit up. "I understand."

Dr. Yiu looked relieved and nodded, leaving them in peace. "A nurse will be back to check on him regularly."

When he was gone, Pepper turned to the others. "He can't break the rules, but we can break the rules."

"Ohh…" Betty and Happy chorused.

"Even so, I think only one of us should stay here."

"I'll do it," Betty volunteered. "You need to be back at the Tower to welcome our guests when they arrive, if they arrive tonight, and Happy said he wouldn't leave your side, so I'll stay here while you two go back. But… not right now. Right now I think Graham needs all of us."

They nodded in agreement and sat around their fallen friend. "You know Betty," Pepper started, "you have quite the temper there."

Mrs. Banner blushed. "I know. In that sense, I'm kind of like my dad."

"I think it's fitting. You are the calmest of us all and yet, when provoked, you're also the most deadly."

She laughed quietly. "I don't know about that. But I do have a bit of a temper. Bruce says I turn red when I'm angry, the same way he turns green."

"So you're like a She-Hulk?" Happy teased.

Pepper and Betty laughed, but it was the brunette who answered. "I guess… I hope that's not my super hero nickname, like Rescue or Sonata or Black Widow. She-Hulk… I don't know, I feel like I'd have to be an actual Hulk to deserve that title."

"You never know what the press will come up with these days," Happy said, pursing his lips and looking away as if to teasingly suggest that he would sell the name to the paparazzi.

Pepper slapped his arm playfully. "Don't scare her like that Happy. If anything, her name would be Mother Nature."

"Or the Red Hulk."

They continued suggesting names back and forth like this while Betty slumped in her chair. She wondered if this was how Tania felt when the Avengers did the exact same thing.


	33. Chapter 32

**A/N. Hi there :) We're back to Stania again for a short period of time, yay! And just so you guys know, we're getting near the end. The climax should be within the next few chapters and then we just tie everything up with a bow, put an epilogue, and BAM. Third story completed. Anyway, enjoy :D**

CHAPTER XXXII

Tania and Steve were asleep once again, lying in their cell with nothing better to do since Tania refused to talk. It wasn't that she couldn't, she just… felt like she couldn't. If she opened her mouth, she was afraid that all of her fears and everything she had worked so hard to repress would come spilling out in her words. Her throat was sore and dry from when she had inhaled several mouthfuls of water and she was afraid that it would hurt to speak. Talking just… scared her, right now. If she didn't talk, she couldn't provoke the enemy. If she didn't talk, didn't open her mouth, she couldn't swallow water and die. If she didn't talk, Steve wouldn't know how scared she was. How broken and scarred she felt on the inside.

She felt like a shell of her former self. You know how a snake can shed its skin? She felt like the skin that had just been shed. But since the drowning three days ago, (the times gunshots helped to decipher how many days they'd been stuck there: five days. It's been five days that they've been stuck in this prison. It felt like so much longer.

_Tania snuggled in closer to Steve, burying her face deeper into Steve's neck and pretending that she wasn't here, pretending she was back at the Tower with her family. This "pretending" eventually led to an actual dream about her family, which she welcomed gladly._

_Tania sat in the lounge of the Tower playing Super Smash Brothers with Graham, Tony, and Clint – and she was kicking their asses. Steve sat next to her, Bruce, Betty, Pepper, Natasha, and Thor sat around on the white sectional in a circle around the TV and cheered them on._

_"OHH" she shouted and fist pumped when it turned out that she won._

_Graham, Tony, and Clint groaned and fell back on the couch at the same time. "How does she do that?" Tony whined._

_"I don't know," Graham mumbled._

_"It's because Princess Zelda is bad ass!" Tania gloated, crossing her legs and handing her controller to Steve, who was blushing and trying to refuse to play. She simply shushed him and began teaching him the controls on the Wii Remote and he seemed to catch on really quickly._

_Round two: Steve as Link vs. Natasha as Ike vs. Bruce as Bowser vs. Pepper as Kirby. The four of them began mashing buttons at top speed. Natasha seemed to be winning. But then Steve broke the smash ball and sent her hurdling off the screen along with Pepper and Bruce. And then time was up and he won._

_Tania cheered while everyone else gaped and/or groaned. She quickly kissed him on the cheek before the remotes were passed around again. _

_Round three: Betty as The Ice Climbers vs. Thor as Captain Falcon vs. Tony as Samus vs. Bruce as Sonic._

_The playing of the video games continued for the entire dream. It was a pretty pointless dream of something that never happened but if anyone asked, Tania would always cherish it. It gave her hope._

She smiled in her sleep. Something poked her arm. She bolted upright. Not another torture session, please! But the only person there was Klaus. Well, and Steve. But he was still sleeping. Man he was a deep sleeper.

Klaus handed her a pen and paper while holding his glow stick. "I need to talk to you."

She took the pad slowly. She nodded at him.

"Why did you go back in time?"

She began scribbling immediately before she showed him the paper._ It was an accident. We didn't mean to._

"So you just ended up coming back to the forties at random?"

_That was the date on the machine. Howard Stark must have set it that way. Time travel is too confusing to try to explain, let alone on paper._

"How long were you there?"

_About a month._

"And you two are still together?"

_Obviously. Now can I ask YOU a question?_

"Sure, I guess."

_Why do you follow HYDRA?_

"What do you mean?"

_Let's say hypothetically that you wanted to quit. Could you?_

Klaus frowned. "No. HYDRA is more than an organization. Think of it as a cult."

_So once you're in, you can't get out?_

"Yes."

_Do you want out?_

Klaus did a double take when he read her question. "Out? Do I-? What? Th-that's a ridiculous question!"

_But do you?_

He was silent for a very long time. "A long time ago, I was sent to attack Brooklyn, NY; the hometown of HYDRA's greatest enemy, to avenge the Red Skull's death. I was to grab hostages if possible. I tried to nab this one woman, but she fought a lot harder than I thought she would, knew more moves than almost any one woman I had ever met. And with the help of her husband, I was knocked out and captured for interrogation.

"The same woman interrogated me. She was witty and sharp tongued when she wanted to be and she was sarcastic and had a sense of humour. I decided I liked her, so I told her about the bomb on my chest because I didn't think she deserved to die.

"I was cast out into the ocean on a submarine, one hundred percent ready to die. But then I was found by the other HYDRA submarines and they took the bomb off me and left it on the ship, painting revenge on every square inch of it before they took me to theirs and we took off. The submarine exploded to make the girl and her friends think that I had died.

"The people that saved me. They told me I owed them a debt. That I would spend the rest of my life paying it back. I believed them. A few years later, in the early fifties, HYDRA disbanded. I mistakenly thought that meant I was free. I was – for a long time. But in May of two thousand and twelve, they got back together, an organization made up of the children of the original HYDRA members who wanted revenge on Captain America for killing Johann Schmidt.

"I was forced back into the organization I had tried so hard to forget; spent my whole life trying to make up for. Despite my age, they considered me useful because I had been part of the original group. The Neo Red Skull thought me valuable. So here I am. My kids think I'm on vacation." He looked down at his hands in his lap.

Tania was scribbling furiously. _So you cleaned up your act only for you to get dragged back in here?_

He nodded. "Basically."

_Can you help us escape?_

He backed away a little and stared at her warily. "No. Neo Red Skull will have my head!"

_Please! You're all we've got right now._ Okay that was technically a lie. She was one hundred percent sure that the Avengers were looking for them, but who knew how long it would be before they were actually found.

"Miss Banks… I can't." He shook his head vigorously. "It's too risky! They'll kill my kids! My grandchildren! He'll kill them all! Just like he did Austerlitz."

_The Austerlitz family is dead?!_

Klaus nodded. "Because he is dead, Schmidt sent out five assassins to take down his wife and three children."

Tania raised a hand to her mouth, horrified. She returned her pencil to paper._ If you help us, the Avengers will make sure that you and your family will be safe._

"You can't promise me that. I'm sorry but I have to go." He ripped the pad out of her hand just as she finished writing the word "But" and rolled out of the room.

Tania sighed and leaned back onto Steve's shoulder. He stirred, bringing her closer to him in his sleep and nuzzling the top of her head with his nose. She smiled a tiny smile and wrapped her arms around his neck.

* * *

On the helicarrier, Natasha stood in the interrogation room in front of Magda Austerlitz, who was finally ready to answer some questions. The Black Widow was dressed in her SHIELD uniform and fully armed, so as to seem more intimidating. She had her hip cocked and her arms crossed as she stood in front of Magda, who sat in a chair with her hands in her lap and fidgeting nervously.

"Mrs. Austerlitz, you know who I am, right?"

She nodded. "You are Natasha Romanoff, of the Avengers."

"Right. And you know what I do for a living, correct?"

Magda gulped. "Assassinate?'

"Correct. Now. Knowing all of that, I'm going to have to ask you some tough questions and I'm going to need you to answer them all with complete honesty. Can you do that?"

"Yes Madam Romanoff."

"Good. Did you know your husband worked for HYDRA?"

"Yes. He worked for them back in the nineteen forties, during the second world war."

"But did you know that these business trips he's been going on have been for HYDRA?"

Magda's eyes widened and she shook her head rapidly. "No! No, I- I didn't!"

"Hm… well he's been trying to kill Captain America's girlfriend for over a week now."

"But… but he told me he was at a business meeting!"

"He was an electrician. What business could he possibly have?"

"He- he told me he got a new job."

"When?"

"Umm…" she scrunched up her eyebrows, "back in September, I think."

"That was when Captain America and Tania Banks announced their relationship to the public. That's when HYDRA started plotting to take her down. And I guess he wasn't technically lying. He did get a new job – working for HYDRA."

Magda covered her mouth with her hand and sobbed. "This can't be true! You're lying!"

"I'm not. I swear to you on my life that this is all the truth."

"But he's a good man! He wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Well he did. He put a knife to Tania's throat and tried to take her away from us. But he failed. We think he's in Hamburg at a secret HYDRA base. I don't suppose you can tell us where he is? Something that could us to him maybe?"

Magda thought long and hard while trying to repress her sobs. "I- No… I don't think so. He said he was going to a business meeting across town at the hotel. I haven't seen him since. That's all I know, I swear! I don't know anything HYDRA or Captain America or anything of the like!"

Natasha looked her up and down, searching for tells. She found none. The red head pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the blonde. "Magda. Your husband is dead."

She gasped. "No! No it can't be!"

"I'm afraid so. Captain America killed him himself when trying to escape the prison they're keeping him in."

Magda stood up and began pacing. "NO! He's not-! He can't be-! He wouldn't lie-! I… I… I just…" she fell to her knees and cried, burying her face in her hands.

Natasha stood up as well, eyeing the hysterical woman on the floor. It was obvious that she wouldn't be able to answer any more questions. Not that she knew any of the answers. She was completely clueless. Useless to their case.

Natasha turned and exited the room. Clint was in the next room over, talking and playing with the kids while at the same time trying to see if they knew anything about their dad, like overheard something they weren't supposed to hear.

He came out at the same time she did and shook his head. "No luck. You?"

"None. Did you tell them he's dead?"

Clint rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "No."

She sighed exasperatedly. "Clint…"

"They're just kids! I didn't want to be the one to break it to them."

"Someone has to."

"Yeah and it's not going to be me."

"Whatever. You ready to tell the others?"

"Uh… no?"

She rolled her eyed and grabbed his elbow. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Needless to say, there were several overturned chairs (Tony), some charred walls (Thor), some spilled tea (Bruce), some random spider webs stuck to the ceiling (Peter), and a very composed Lieutenant Colonel (Rhodes) left in the wake of their confession.

* * *

Felicity looked around, confused. "I thought you said I was going to Chicago?" she asked, whirling on the SHIELD agent beside her.  
Agent J. Sitwell shrugged his shoulders. "I lied. Welcome to India, Ms. Deed. I hope you don't enjoy your stay," he said cheerfully before slamming the door to the jet closed and flying away.

Felicity gaped as they just left her there – without her luggage. She literally had nothing but the clothes on her back. "GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE FUCKTARDS! COME HERE AND LET ME GAUGE OUT YOUR EYES!" She shouted at the sky. She huffed before entering the city streets. Holy crap, there were people EVERYWHERE. She kept getting touched and bumped into and almost run over and this place was hot and smelly and she was repulsed by everything.

And then there was a hand on her arm and what she assumed was an Indian SHIELD agent started manhandling her down the road. "Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"To prison, where else?" the guy told her with an Indian accent and a tooth grin.

"Prison?! For what?"

"For giving away SHIELD secrets and assistance in attempted murder."

"Wha-? Attempted murder! That's preposterous! I would never-!"

"Save it, Ms. Deed."

"It's MISS Deed you idiot! Get it right!" she slapped his chest only to realize he was wearing a bullet proof vest.

"Assaulting an officer. That's another few months."

"You're not even a policeman!"

"I work for the government. It's basically the same thing."

"Okay now you're just messing with me. Where's the camera saying this is a prank show?"

He laughed merrily. "This is no prank. You are really under arrest, Ms. Deed."

"But why in India?"

"Didn't you hear? You've been deported."

"DEPORTED? As in, banned from the US?"

"Exactly."

"I've been exiled?!"

"Uh huh."

"How?!"

"I'm afraid your clearance level isn't high enough to know that."

"What's my clearance level?"

"Negative one." He shoved her into a building she hadn't even noticed was there and slammed the door behind her. He chuckled to himself as he locked the door. "Good one, Hank. Negative one." He whistled a happy tune, stuffing his hands in his pockets before walking away.


	34. Chapter 33

**A/N. Hi guys! So here's the 33rd chapter of SCWCR. Just so you guys know, I went ahead and finished the story. It's complete. I just haven't posted all of it yet. I will post the rest of the chapters between now and Labour Day. It has become painfully obvious that this story will never reach 300 reviews like I had hoped, but rather past one hundred, which is still pretty awesome :) To all those who are reading this, YOU GUYS ROCK! I LUV YOU! I have been thinking about making a fourth story. You'll see why after reading the last chapter/epilogue/bonus scene thing. But even if I do, it won't be for a little while. I'm going to take a break from writing for a while (multi-chapter novels at least, I will continue with my prompt fic Our Children) and when I do come back, I'm going to try and finish the original novel I started writing last November and then stopped halfway through. Once I'm done that, I'll come back to writing full-fledged fanfiction novels (at least, that's the plan. But plans can change). So yeah. Even if the future story potentially has even less interested, I would still be writing it because *I* want to. But just out of curiousity, how many of you would read the fourth book? Okay, I'm done my rant now. Enjoy :D**

CHAPTER XXXIII

Betty had stayed with Graham all of last night, holding his hand and talking to him in hushed tones. At one point, she'd said, "You know, you keep teasing your sister about being a trouble magnet, when really it's the both of you. I mean, look at where you ended up," and his lips had twitched as if in silent laughter. But he didn't wake up.

He was awake now, at eleven o'clock in the morning, in his bed at the Tower with Betty sleeping at his bedside in a bean bag chair shaped like a football he'd brought in from his dorm. He remembered what happened but it was like looking through a foggy mirror. He knew what had happened, he just couldn't see it very well.

He had been awake for the past half hour, just trying to get his bearings. All he knew was that he didn't want to wake up Betty, who looked like she could really use the rest, but he was STARVING.

"Hey Jarvis?" he whispered, knowing the AI could hear him.

"Yes, Mr. Banks?"

"Can you get someone to bring me food please? I'm soooooooo hungry."

"Of course."

"Thanks J. You're the best."

"Thank you."

Graham's head lolled to the side and he debated going back to sleep but his rumbling stomach made him stay awake. He had just decided to close his eyes when he heard the door open and he blinked them furiously. He turned his head to see who had entered and something started beeping really fast when he saw Darcy enter the room.

"What the-?" He yanked the EKG from his finger and the beeping stopped. He watched as the heart monitor flat-lined silently. Okay, that was way creepy. He turned back to the poly-sci intern in his room with a platter of delicious food in her hands. "Wha- what are you doing here?"

She strode forward and set the platter next to him on the bed before taking the seat on the other side of his bed, opposite the sleeping Betty. "What does it look like? I'm bringing you food, dummy."

"Hey, the only dummy here is a robot and he's… somewhere in the Tower I don't know of. Probably one of the labs."

She rolled her eyes and kicked her feet up onto his bed, her socked toes brushing against his blanketed calves and sending tingles up his spine. "Nice come back." She stole one of the omelet croissant sandwiches and took a bite out of it.

"Hey! My food!" he reached forward to grab one but cried out when his ribs protested and he fell back down on the bed, clutching at his torso.

"Are you okay?!" Darcy removed her feet and slid closer, reaching out as if to touch him but not knowing what to do. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and bit her lip instead.

When Graham opened his eyes again, that was the first thing he saw. He had to admit, he liked the view. He cleared his throat. "When did you get here?"

She shrugged and took another bite of her croissant, leaning back in the plastic chair that hadn't been in his room yesterday… "About ten this morning? The first flight to NYC was really early in the morning. I had to wake up at like, three. And considering I went to bed at two, I didn't get much sleep."

Graham snorted. "Okay, so that's how and when you got here. But why are you here? And would you pass me a sandwich? I'm starving."

"Jane told Pepper, Betty, and Happy that we'd take the first flight here after the Hammeroid attack to see if we could help you guys out with repairs and to help track down your sister and shit," she answered without fulfilling his request. If she was being honest with herself, she just wanted to see him squirm.

"So the three of you guys are here? Does Thor know? And hello? Sandwich?"

She shook her head. "Nah, the big guy's a little busy right now to be bothered with phone calls from us. He doesn't even know how to use a damn phone after all this time. It's pathetic, when you think about it."

"Where is everybody else?" he asked while straining his fingers to reach the sandwiches.

Darcy pretended not to notice and had a hard time not laughing. "In the lab going through World War Two veterans. Their list is actually pretty long now and they've split up into two teams. Happy, Jane and Selvig are the ones who compile the list while Pepper and Betty are the ones who actually contact those people about information on HYDRA. And then there's Happy's brother Royce, who's the doctor that's supposed to be watching over you. We're letting him sleep in. B-T-dubs, he sleeps in the room over."

He nodded in understanding. It made sense to have the doctor so close to the patient. "And you? What do you do?"

She shrugged. "Mostly bring them coffee and doughnuts. Not much different than interning for Jane – or any place, really."

"If Betty has a job, what's she doing here?" His fingers were just inches away from the food. He was so close he was practically salivating.

"I think she somehow thinks you're her baby cub or something. Hasn't left your side all night or morning."

"That was sweet of her," he said, pausing in his harrowing quest to glorious food to look at the sleeping Betty to his left. He resumed his stretch to victory – was climbing Mount Doom this hard?

Darcy nodded in agreement, taking another bite of croissant while Graham was forced to watch. He pouted. She couldn't help but think that was probably the most adorable thing she had ever seen. And she'd had a puppy at one point. That was saying something.

"You know, you look a lot more beautiful in person than on a screen," he complimented, turning on the charm seemingly at random.

Darcy bit her lip again (damn, he should not be turned on this easily) and crossed her legs. "Smooth."

"You know what would make you even more beautiful to me?"

She leaned a little closer. "What?"

"If you would hand me a sandwich."

She snorted and burst out laughing, leaning back in her chair while Graham smirked. She reached over to the platter and pushed it closer to his torso while she helped prop him up into a sitting position. "Well played, Casa Blanca. Well played."

As soon as he was settled, he devoured the food like a ravenous beast. There had been at least six sandwiches on that plate. Now there were none. It had only been about five minutes.

"Damn. Boy can eat!" she whistled.

He grinned at her. "I'm a good kisser too." WHY DID HE JUST SAY THAT? GOSH, he was such an idiot.

"Ooh, double threat."

"Triple, actually, if you count how badass I am for knowing Karate and being able to use nunchucks and kicking some robot butt."

"I do."

"Then I'm a triple threat."

"Someone's quite the catch."

"That's what they say."

"So now that I've handed you a sandwich, is it true that I look more beautiful?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him shamelessly. It was teasing and playful but at the same time there was an undertone of seriousness in it that made her heart pound.

"Come closer and let me see," he told her, staring unabashedly at her lips.

She obeyed and moved her head closer to his, inhaling his breakfast breath. Her own breath probably smelled like coffee and doughnuts. She briefly wondered what combining the two would taste like before all thoughts left her and her eyes fluttered closed.

A groan blew them both back as if an explosion had gone off in the room and they whipped around to see Betty rubbing her eyes tiredly. Both Graham and Darcy blushed but tried desperately to hide it.

"I'll just- I'll take this back to the kitchen." Darcy grabbed the platter and stood up, hurriedly making her way out of the room. "See you later S'mores!" she called over her shoulder just before leaving.

Graham smiled. It was a sign that he and Darcy were cool. Things weren't going to be awkward between them. He didn't know how he knew that but apparently he could read her body language as easily as if it were a children's book. He wondered what that would look like…

"Graham?" Betty mumbled, yawning and sitting upright. "Oh, Graham! You're awake!" She beamed and grabbed his hand, kneeling beside his bed.

He smiled back at her. "Yup. Ring the alarm bell! Get the parade ready. Where's the surprise party?"

Betty laughed. "Do you remember what happened?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It's kind of fuzzy but I know what I did and how it ended."

"You were so incredibly brave, Graham."

His blush deepened. He didn't blush often, but when he did, everyone said it reminded them of his sister. He didn't need to think about her right now… stop it! "Thanks. You too."

"Oh, I didn't do anything. I just-"

"Stopped Hammer from killing Pepper? Warned me about being killed several times? Told me about Happy and the police so that I could better their efforts to win? You were so totally kick ass."

"Thanks. I'd better get back to the lab. I have a bunch of phone calls to make." She pushed herself to her feet.

"Wait! I'm coming with you!" He grunted and slowly inched his legs over the side of the bed, holding his breath.

"Graham, no! What are you doing?" She rushed over to him. "Get back in bed!"

"You can't tell me what to do just because you're older." He grunted and stood up. "OW! Fuck! I'm twenty-three years old! Why does everyone seem to think I'm a kid?"

He gripped his ribcage with his left hand and hobbled forward. "Maybe because you act like one," she snapped back before grabbing his arm and wrapping around her shoulders. "Come on. I'll help you to the second elevator."

"We have a second elevator?!"

"Apparently. I didn't know about it either and I've been living here a month longer than you have."

"Well that sucks. I ran like, a hundred flights of stairs yesterday!"

"Me too. It sucked big time."

"Oh yeah."

The two of them continued to limp down the hallway. "Um…" Betty started, "Was I… interrupting something, back there?"

Heat rushed to Graham's face. "No, not really. We were just talking."

"You mean flirting?"

"That too."

She laughed quietly. "Is this a conversation you don't want to have?"

"Pretty much."

"Okay, I get it. I'll drop the subject."

"Thank you."

Five minutes of silence later…

"So what did you have for breakfast?"

Another agonizing fifteen minutes later…

"Finally! I thought we'd never make it!" Graham exclaimed as the elevator doors opened into the lab on which everyone was working.

"Graham!" Pepper cried and ran over to him. "Oh I'm so glad you're alright! Are you feeling okay? Does anything hurt?"

He laughed and swatted her away like a fly as he removed his arm from Betty's shoulders and stood up on his own while not removing his hand from his torso, despite it being the hand with the wrist he'd sprained. "I'm fine, Pepper, honest. I'm all patched up and healing already."

"You shouldn't be walking around for at least two weeks!"

He shrugged. "What are you gonna do?"

Darcy chuckled from her spot in a chair on wheels, spinning herself around for amusement. Erik and Jane were standing behind the counter with a bunch of holograms in front of their faces and Happy was munching on leftover breakfast sandwiches in a corner, sitting on the counter.

Pepper "tsk"-ed him before returning back to her post and grabbing her phone to talk make the next call. Betty followed suit and they were all hard at work again. Graham walked over to the other side of the counter from Jane and Erik.

"Sup guys?"

"Hi Graham," Jane waved. "Glad you're okay."

He waved it off. "Pshaw! That was nothing. I could totally survive a lot worse."

"I can imagine."

"Hey Erik, how's it going? Long-time no see." The two men shook hands in greeting.

"Fine, thank you for asking."

Graham got to work on searching through the veterans for anyone who might know anything about HYDRA, opening up a totally knew screen on the opposite side of the two astrophysicists. He only used his right hand to move screens around, seeing as his left still clutched his side. He felt Darcy's presence behind him immediately but pretended not to notice and continued Googling stuff. Her breathing near his ear was driving his insane though. He had to do something. "Hey Darce?" he called without looking.

He didn't see her jump in fright. "Yeah?"

"Would you mind getting me my pills from my room please? The pain is starting to come back."

"Um, yeah. Sure."

And just like that she was gone. He breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. Now he could concentrate. Tony's dad had worked with Steve against HYDRA or something, right? Maybe there would be something in his file. He pulled it up and began scanning it.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a finger tapped his shoulder and he whirled around. There was Darcy with his pills and a coffee with several creams, milks, sugars, and sweeteners in a bowl. His eyes widened as he took them from her. "Oh my God you're a life saver!" He quickly dumped three sugars one creamer in his coffee before he threw back his pills and washed it down with his drink. He sighed in relief afterward and wiped his mouth with his- nonexistent sleeve. Wait what? He looked down. He had been shirtless the whole time. Of course, there were enough bandages to completely cover his torso from top to bottom and he was still wearing his jeans, but his arms, shoulders, and throat were almost completely bare (except for more bandages). He supposed he wouldn't have been able to put on a shirt by himself anyway, though.

Pepper laughed a little while dialing another number. "He's as religious with his coffee as his sister."

"Hey!" He pointed his index finger at her defensively. "Coffee works wonders for University students."

"I know right?" Darcy exclaimed, "Now do you believe me, Erik?" She turned to face the doctor in question. "Coffee solves all the world's problems for a Uni student."

Graham nodded in agreement. "It's true. It gets you through the day in the morning and keeps you up late enough to finish assignments at night. When you're in school, coffee is a student's best friend."

"Oh my God, where have you been all my life?" Darcy turned to him.

"Looking for you," he said back, raising an eyebrow.

"Well you found me. Now what?"

"Speaking of find…" Happy interrupted, pointing at the screens.

Graham's face fell and he nodded, turning back to his work. Darcy sighed. She supposed she understood. If a member of her family was missing, she'd be fighting tooth and nail to get them back. There would be no time for relationships- WOAH! Hold the phone! Relationships? Where did that come from? They're just flirting. It's harmless. Playful. Meaningless.

… Right?


	35. Chapter 34

**A/N. Hi :) Okay, so I got some more reviews saying that I should make a fourth. Because you guys are so awesome, I WILL write a fourth book, however it will not be right away. I have no idea when I will write it, but I'm thinking sometime after I see Thor 2... maybe after Captain America 2... I don't know yet. But I will write it. :) So anyway, this chapter is really short, but I call it a transition chapter. I hope you'll see why after. Enjoy! :D**

CHAPTER XXXIV

After calling and searching all day, no one at the Tower found out anything useful. Eventually, they all called it a night and Royce escorted Graham back to his room with the help of Darcy, who'd stayed with him until he fell asleep so that he wouldn't be bored.

The next morning, Graham woke up with a frown. It was Wednesday, August fifteenth: Tania's birthday was tomorrow. And she was still missing. She would be captured by HYDRA… on her birthday. How much that must suck, Graham would never know.

With Royce (or rather Dr. Hogan)'s help, Graham returned to the lab at nine o'clock the next morning to continue with the research. When he entered, everyone was already there. Pepper and Betty both knew that Tania's birthday was tomorrow. They were also both eerily silent except when making phone calls. Happy, Jane, Erik, and Darcy didn't know that Tania would be turning twenty-five on the sixteenth. They conversed as if they had all the time in the world. But Graham wanted his sister back NOW.

Reinvigorated for another bout of searching, he downed a mug of coffee (thank you Darcy) and got to work. He started looking for anyone Steve or Howard may have come in contact with. Chester Phillips: Deceased. Howard Stark: Deceased. Timothy Cadwallander (Dum Dum Dugan): Deceased. Jim Morita: Deceased. Montgomery Falsworth: Deceased. Gabriel Jones: Deceased. Jacques Dernier: Deceased. James "Bucky" Barnes: Deceased. Steve Rogers: Deceased Active. Abraham Erskine: Deceased. Arnim Zola: Deceased. Johann Schmidt: Deceased. Peggy Carter: Active.

It was just past three in the afternoon when Graham did a double take. "Holy shit! Pepper!" He waved over the redhead. "Call this woman. Do it now!"

She gasped. "Peggy Carter! She's still alive?"

"Apparently! Now do it! Come on!"

"Okay, okay!"

Pepper whipped out a phone and began dialling. Their little commotion had captured the attention of everyone else in the room and everyone sat to watch. The CEO paced while the phone rang. A British female answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi! Yes, my name is Pepper Potts, co-CEO of Stark Industries."

"Oh yes, I've heard of you. News does travel to England, you know."

She laughed nervously. "Well, we're kind of in a pickle here and we were wondering if you could help?"

"I'd love to. What do you need?"

"Well, have you heard about the disappearance of Steve and Tania?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line as the woman sucked in a breath. Finally, she answered. "No, I did not hear that news. Do you have any idea where they might be?"

"We think they might be somewhere in Germany, captured by HYDRA forces."

"HYDRA? Are you sure?"

"Positive. Two of us were there when they were taken. It's them. I'm calling to ask if you have any information on them that could be useful."

"… I don't believe I can tell you anything that would be helpful on the subject of HYDRA, but can you answer me a question?"

"Um, sure."

"Does Tania carry around a knife? A pocket knife. A rather old fashioned one."

Pepper's eyebrows knitted together. "Umm…"

"Yes!" Graham interrupted her, grabbing the phone. "Yes, she never leaves home without it."

"Did she have it on her when she was kidnapped?"

"Most likely."

"I don't suppose you believe in time travel, do you?"

"… what?"

"Never mind. That knife has a tracking device in it. I should know. I gave it to her."

"You gave it to her? When was this?"

"Nineteen forty-five. But I'll explain that some other time. Right now, I need you to track down that tracking device and find them for me."

"But it would be useless. We can't track their cell phones or their comms or anything else even remotely close! What makes you think a tracking device would be able to give us a signal?"

"It's a rather… old, model. It doesn't work the same way technology does now. Please, just try it."

Graham pressed the phone into his shoulder. "Jarvis?"

"Already on it, Mr. Banks."

"Thanks."

A map popped up on screen. With a blinking dot in the center. A smile a mile wide lit up his face. "Oh my God it worked!" He returned the phone to his ear. "Thank you! I don't even know you or know how you gave my sister a tracking device or why, but thank you so much!"

"Sister? Tania has a brother?"

"Yup. And you're looking-er, speaking to him."

"Hm, no wonder she wanted to go back…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing. But just remember that the red dot you're probably looking at isn't actually Tania. It's just the location of her knife."

"I know, but thank you!"

"Please let me know how everything goes," she said, sounding rather worried and old.

Graham nodded his head vigorously. "Yes, yes of course. I gotta go. Bye."

He hung up before she could answer, eyes transfixed on the screen just like everybody else. Betty spoke up. "Where is that?"

"It's in Hamburg, Germany, Mrs. Banner. Shall I alert the Avengers immediately?"

"Please."

* * *

At the SHIELD base in Germany, six hours ahead of New York City, Nick Fury stood in the meeting room with Bruce and Peter. All of a sudden, a map with a blinking red dot popped up on screen. Everyone stood up and inched closer.

"Mr. Banks and the others at the Tower have discovered Miss Banks' supposed location. It is approximately twenty-five point four miles from the SHIELD base. Please send the Avengers immediately." JARVIS' voice boomed throughout the room.

Bruce and Peter's eyes widened. "Holy shit!" Bruce exclaimed. "Jarvis, did you contact the others?"

"Doing so, now."

Tony's face from the point of view of the War Machine helmet popped up on the screen. "What the Hell? Where did they get this information?"

"Peggy Carter, Sir."

"Agent Carter? Rogers' would be love interest?"

"That is correct."

Rhodey's face popped up next to Tony's in the Iron Patriot suit. "Meet you guys there."

"Race you!" Tony challenged.

"You're on!" They went at it but the screens never disappeared – they were keeping close contact with the other Avengers.

Thor suddenly appeared in the room with a flash of lightning and a round of thunder. "The talking computer has informed me that we have the location of our friends. I have come so that we may go together!"

Clint and Natasha burst into the room next. "We heard the news. When do we leave?"

"Right now," Fury stated, walking closer to the map. He didn't take his eyes away from the blinking red dot. "Start the countdown."


	36. Chapter 35

**A/N. Heyy :) I give you... chapter 35! I bet you'll enjoy this one ;)**

CHAPTER XXXV

Tania screamed in protest. She yanked and pulled and kicked and flailed but the two guards holding her down kept her at bay while another two worked on subduing her boyfriend a few feet away. They were going to hurt him. She could feel it in her gut.

Her body ached and protested. She had barely moved in days but she had never felt more invigorated to use her muscles. She had no idea what they were doing to Steve but she knew she couldn't let it happen. She brought her knee up to the face of the man on her right and brought the forefront of her elbow to the nose of the man on her left before kicking out her left leg and knocking back the first man she'd hit. But the second one got in a good punch to the face and she fell to the floor, dazed. A boot stomped on her back and she gasped, using the last of her energy to turn her head towards Steve.

He was on his knees, still in his chains, with his hands in front of him and his head tilted all the way to one side uncomfortably. There were two more men who she now realized were working on removing the comm from his ear. She knew how painful that was. It was like tearing the skin from your body slowly and painfully and she didn't want him to feel that.

She tried to get up but she was stuck under that soldier's boot and she was forced to watch as Steve tried to fight off the henchmen. He threw one of them over his shoulder before his leg swung out and struck the knees of the other one, putting them both on their backs. The third minion (one that had been originally holding Tania) ran forward and shot Steve in the stomach – again. That meant it was probably midnight. She and Steve had come to think of each of those gunshots as Noon and Midnight to help tell time. Of course, there was no way to be one hundred percent accurate, but it was all they had. So in that sense, it was officially the sixteenth.

Tania didn't have much time to think as blood began spewing from Steve's wound and he clenched his teeth tightly, leaning forward with his fists on the ground. One HYDRA soldier tilted his ear, grabbed the tweezers and the comm and yanked. Steve yelled out for a split second before he clamped his mouth shut and held as still as possible so as not to make the pain worse.

The man kept pulling as hard as he could, eventually putting his foot on Steve's shoulder to shove him away while pulling. Blood was seeping from his ear like a waterfall and Tania wanted to kill them not for what they did to her, but for what they were doing to Steve.

After several agonizing minutes, the man gave the comm one last tug before he fell backward with the tweezers in hand and landed on his back while Steve fell to the side. The man above her removed his boot and she could breathe again. The quartet stalked out of the room, laughter echoing around them, before slamming the door shut behind them.

Tania scrambled over to Steve and tentatively picked up his head. There was blood everywhere and she knew she had to clean it up. She rushed over to the first aid kit and grabbed everything she needed. This was probably around her tenth time doing this. She was practically an expert now. She began to clean the blood gently off his face, neck, ear, and abs. He had lost the entire front of his shirt long ago in the many gunshot wounds and it sat on his shoulders uselessly like a button-up T-shirt that wasn't buttoned.

He lay there, breathing ragged, watching her face while she worked. Once she had his torso wrapped up nice and tight, she went to his ear. Once she was satisfied, she ran her hands through dirty, matted hair and finally let the tears she'd been holding back fall. He reached up and wiped them away softly with his thumb.

"I'm okay," he promised her. "It's just pain. It will be over eventually."

She nodded, trying as hard as she could to believe him. Her fingers ran through his hair and she massaged his head. She hadn't done it in a while but she knew he was putty in her hands whenever she used to do it. Her magic touch apparently hadn't lost its magic because Steve was humming and closing his eyes in contentment. She smiled at him. He was so… brave. So courageous. So hopeful. He had something she desperately needed: faith. She knew her team was looking for them, she just didn't know if they would be found. Steve appeared to have convinced himself that the Avengers would save them. Tania wasn't as sure.

They sat like for a while, unsure of the time, and she was pretty sure he fell asleep at some point (but he was awake now) and all the while, she continued to rub her fingers in comforting circles on his scalp. She really wanted to move. She wanted to stand up and do something and move around but she refused to leave Steve's side. He was chained to the wall. If he couldn't move around, then she wouldn't. Even if it got extremely boring just sitting there, not talking.

Suddenly, the door opened and in came Klaus. She and Steve both turned their heads to look at him before going back to each other. The old man rolled closer to them and dropped off their food, to which they quickly took and started eating. "I disabled the volume again," he said to them. They looked at him expectantly. "There's a key to his chains hidden in your food."

Stania did their best to try not to react for the sake of the cameras but it was pretty hard. They stopped chewing, making sure they weren't eating it, before they continued and swallowed, waiting for him to continue.

"I'm busting you out of here but if anyone asks, I was trying to poison you." He waved a finger between them both. "Now before I go, there's something I gotta tell ya." He stared directly into Tania's eyes. "Back in the day, I kind of had a little crush on you. And if I was still young, I'd kiss you full on the lips, Captain America or no, but since I'm not…" He leaned forward and kissed her cheek before either of them could do anything. He sat back. "Viel Glück."

He rolled out of the room. Tania looked to Steve for translation. "He said, 'good luck'." He looked down at their food. "How are we supposed to get out with cameras watching?"

She shrugged and took another bite, searching for the key thoroughly in her mouth before swallowing. She didn't taste anything anymore. It was just bland slop that she stuffed down her throat. On her next bite, she felt the metal key inside her mouth. She moved to sit next to Steve and put his arm around her before spitting it into his palm. He closed his fingers around it and pretended it was just another one of their snuggle sessions.

"You know," he whispered in her ear, "Just because there are cameras, doesn't mean anyone's watching."

He had a point. Except you could never be too careful. She gave him a disbelieving look.

He chuckled. "You're right. We should be careful anyway." He kissed the top of her head and mumbled into her ear. "How are we going to do this? Let's say we get out, we don't have Jarvis anymore to tell us where to go."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Well… I remember the way he was showing us earlier, but it leads to the pit."

She shivered but otherwise didn't react. She nodded minutely.

"Alright, then. I promise I'll protect you this time. I swear on my shield I won't let them get to you."

She laughed and kissed his jaw lightly.

"I'm going to slide the key into the slot and you're going to turn it, okay?"

She nodded.

"We're going to do that for all four chains."

She nodded again.

"Go." He slipped one hand over the manacle on his other wrist and yawned, pretending that was why his hand took the path it did. Tania slid her hands up his arms and around his neck (but not before twisting the key and letting the metal slide off his wrist). She buried herself deeper into his chest while he working on his other wrist behind his back and then handed her the key. There was no way to this discreetly. They were just going to have to do it and get out. She released his ankles and pulled him to his feet. He was a little wobbly but they were both aching to move.

They ran to the door. New problem. How were they going to open it? Tania grabbed a smaller pair of tweezers from the first aid kit and began trying to pick the lock. Natasha had given her "lock-picking one-oh-one" once after a mission where Tony had been locked in a closet and didn't know how to get out. With a final twist, the lock clicked open and Steve pulled it open to reveal a henchman waiting there with a gun.

Before he could shoot, she reacted instinctively and swung her right fist forward, clocking him just shy of his left eye. He fell to the ground and she whipped out her hand in pain. Punching people hurt. She stepped over him while Steve grabbed the gun and shot him. She wasn't even phased by death anymore. She'd seen too much of it by this point not just in the HYDRA base, but in her entire life time.

The two of them ran as silently as they could down the hallway they had last gone to. They had elected not to hold hands this time so that they wouldn't be held back when it came to fighting. They rounded a corner and there were two guards walking innocently. Stania exchanged a brief look before running forward at the same time and kicking them both in the chests, sending them flying backwards (okay, only Steve could make someone fly with a kick). He quickly knocked them out, not using the gun so they could stay as quiet as possible. The two of them dragged the bodies into one of the rooms and closed the door.

Around every corner there were at least one or two more guards walking around. What were they even doing, anyway? Didn't these people have jobs? Either way, they didn't stand a chance against the newly synchronized power couple plowing through their numbers. After being together practically every second for the past six days, Steve and Tania had become attuned to each other's senses and were able to fight and move as one entity. Despite being locked up and restrained and immobile for the majority of the week, they were both determined that this time would be different. Steve's injuries were also fairly recent, but he wasn't about to break his promise to Tania. Not again.

Around another corner, Tania grabbed the shoulders of one man and pushed him down so that he was bending over before she jumped and slid down his back to kick the next one in the throat with her bare foot (she'd lost her shoes a long time ago) while Steve delivered an uppercut to the man she'd just bent over.

They stowed away the bodies and kept running. The alarms had yet to sound, which was odd but good. But after going through a door, someone started shooting and suddenly it was chaos. There were at least a good dozen soldiers in there with guns of their own. Tania grabbed Steve's hand and yanked him backwards.

They ran back into the hall before letting go of each other and turning another corner. That's when the sirens went off and everything white turned red as the lights flashed. There were shouts and German curses and footsteps and bullets firing.

The couple came to the place where the pit should have been – but wasn't. They were grateful and kept going, not stopping to think that maybe they were going the wrong way. They had passed their last "check point" so to speak. Neither of them knew where to go from here. They just kept running.

* * *

Tony and Rhodey were scanning the forested area with a picture of the map Pepper had sent them on in their HUDs. They had given up the race by now, as it had been a good two hours since they'd received the map and had yet to find anything. The two best friends flying around in their armour had been joined some time ago by Thor, using his lightning to fly and carrying Steve's shield on his back to return it to the Captain, Peter, using his webs to swing through the trees of the forest below, and Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and Agent Hill, all in a quinjet.

"One hour to midnight guys," Clint reminded. Everyone groaned.

"Look, I feel guilty enough as it is! No need to rub it in that it's Tania's birthday tomorrow," Tony snapped.

"You actually remembered her birthday?" Peter asked, surprised.

He shrugged. "Pepper set up a reminder on my phone to shock me every time it gets close to someone's birthday because she was fed up with me forgetting all the time."

"Nice."

"Guys, I think I found something!" Rhodey called to them. Tony was there in a matter of moments. "See that?" Iron Patriot pointed at a clearing in the trees. "That's unnatural but we can't see anything. It's suspicious. We should take a look."

"Whatever you say, Platypus." The two of them dove downward, soon joined by Thor and Peter while the quinjet hovered above.

As soon as the four men (three men and one boy) broke through the clearing, they saw the compound. Immediately after putting themselves in plain view, the guards on duty began shooting at them.

"Ah! Peter exclaimed, narrowly missing a bullet that tore his Spider-man suit. "Aw man! I just got this fixed!"

"Legolas! Red! Get down here!" Tony shouted as he began firing repulsors at the guards. "This is the place!"

Clint and Natasha dove off the quinjet and landed in a very tall tree. They both slid down until about halfway where she jumped off and he found a comfy spot on a branch to keep an eye on things. He pulled out his bow as she rolled on the ground and started shooting. It was a full-out battle and these Avengers were not leaving without their friends.

* * *

Back at the Tower, all anyone could do was sit there and wait. Well, except Pepper. Once JARVIS informed her that the battle had started, she ordered that he fire up her Rescue suit and hook up the ability to control it from afar as she put on the headset and gloves and boots and ran to the gym, where she would the room to move around. Everyone followed.

* * *

Tony landed on the ground and began blasting the seemingly endless amount of guards with the gun on his back when he was blasted forward and fell on the ground. He grunted and pushed himself up. He looked up just as Rescue landed in front of him and punched the guy in the face.

"PEPPER?!"

She turned to face him and helped him up. "Hi Honey." She turned and used the bottom of her foot to blast another guard away from them. The two of them continued fighting, back to back, while they continued the conversation. "I knew you wouldn't destroy my suit."

"Pepper, you should get of here! It's not safe!"

"I'm not really here." She used her thrusters to fly upward just a few feet, putting extra power into the knee she shoved in one man's face before dropping back down again. "I'm at the Tower."

"But- Watch out!" She ducked and he fired a repulsor over her back before she straightened out. "You know what? You're not in danger, sounds perfect to me. Stay as long as you want."

"Thanks." She grunted as she threw another man into six others, knocking them over like bowling pins.

"You know I have never been more turned on than I am right now?"

She laughed and kicked another man in the face. "Even when I was injected with Extremis?"

He fired his chest beam. "Even then. Marry me."

"What?" She turned to face him just as he shoved her out of the way and whacked one man in the head, knocking him out instantly.

"I said marry me. Do I have to say please too?"

"Wha-? I- I- Marriage? Now?"

He spun around and delivered a good kick to the chest to another henchman. "Yeah. Well, not get married now. But proposing now. I even have a ring and everything. Of course, I don't have it on me though. Why would I bring it to a place you weren't going to be? I've had it for quite a while actually. I bought it back in December. Steve's been hiding it in his room so that you wouldn't find it."

"Wait, you've been hiding my engagement ring in Steve's room this whole time?"

"Yeah." He shot yet another minion.

"Oh crap."

"What?"

"Tania saw the ring. She thought Steve was going to propose."

"Bummer. Now, I don't remember you giving me an answer…"

She flew over his head and tackled a man to the ground before returning to his side. She sounded breathless yes. "Yes."

"Alright! I would totally kiss you right now if, you know, you were actually here."

"And we weren't fighting to save our friends."

"Right. That too."

* * *

Back inside the compound, Steve and Tania continued running for what felt like forever, but they had to be stopped. That had to mean something good, right? It seemed that the more they ran, the less and less people tried to stop them. Maybe they had taken them all out already? Unlikely.

Steve kicked open a door to find what looked like a control room. Well, it wasn't an exit but there were counter to ceiling glass windows. That was something right? It was pitch black outside with stars shining in the sky and that was all Steve and Tania could see. But they could hear what sounded like a war going on outside. They didn't get any time to question it though because in this room, stood Dominik Schmidt and about seven henchmen armed to the tee.

* * *

Up in the quinjet, Bruce and Maria sat in the back while a couple of SHIELD agents drove the plane. Bruce was fidgeting nervously. "Should I go down there?"

Hill shrugged. "Looks like something the Hulk could be useful for. Why not?"

"I don't want to hurt Tania or Steve."

"Do you want to help?"

"Yes."

She stared at him for a long time. "Really?"

"Yes."

In a millisecond, she had the hatchback door open and she shoved him out of the plane. "You'll thank me later!" she called to him as he began hulking out mid-fall. She sighed. It was protocol to have to follow him (one agent keeps an eye on the Hulk at all costs). She jumped after him.

* * *

Neo Red Skull just laughed. "Did you honestly think you could break out of here?" He stepped closed to Steve and Tania, who had huddled a little closer together and shut the door behind them.

"Yes," Steve answered truthfully.

"Good luck with that."

All the henchman attacked at once. Tania kicked the first man in the face before palm striking another (it hurt her hand a lot less than punching someone did, even if it was less effective). She spun around and kicked another one before linking both arms with Steve's back to back. He lifted her off the ground and she kicked both assailants away with each leg before she rolled off his back and to the side, ducking under a kick aimed her way and bringing her fist up to meet someone's crotch (ew!). The guy mewled and fell over while she used the dashboard of the control room as a step ladder and spun around on her heel, kicking three men in quick succession more making her way back to Steve.

The Captain wasn't used to fighting with his shield, but he had done it several times and this was no different. That didn't make him miss it any less. He rammed the butt of his newly acquired gun into someone's temple before shooting another one between the eyes. He grabbed the front of one man's shirt and launched him into two more behind him.

That was when Tania slid between his legs and kicked the feet of a man who had snuck up on him, knocking the guy to the floor. He grabbed her hand and spun her around while she kicked out her legs at their opponents before pulling her to her feet and socking one man in the jaw.

It was like their fighting revolved around each other. Every move they made had to reflect the other person otherwise it would become too chaotic to follow. It was teamwork, and that was what them this much more successful. Last time, they hadn't thought of each other as a team trying to win, they had just been running and shooting and holding each other back. But now they were going all out and they were doing an almost flawless job.

Until one man got a punch to Steve's gut – right where the bullet wound was. He was momentarily out of breath and it was enough for someone to shove him forward on his stomach, right in front of a pair of feet. He looked up. Schmidt grinned back at him with a knife long enough to be a sword in his hands.

Tania finally dealt the final blow to the guard and grabbed his gun, turning around. The sound of her cocking it grabbed Schmidt's attention and he looked at her while she aimed at him, eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn't kill me," he crooned. "I've seen you with a weapon. You shoot walls and pretend you're strong when really-" Eleven gun shots went off. Neo Red Skull collapsed on the floor, dead.

"Like Hell I won't," she croaked, her voice raw and hoarse but not caring. The man who had put her through all this was dead. It was finally… in a sense… over.

She rushed over to help Steve to his feet. He coughed. "Should I be insulted that the first person you spoke to was him, not me?"

She laughed and threw her arms around him. "I love you! I love you, I love you, I love you!"

He squeezed her back. "I love you too." They were whole again.

The door burst open and twenty or so more guards began filing in. Stania broke apart. They were surrounded. Except… Tania grabbed his hand and jumped on the dashboard. He followed without a word. She rammed her shoulder into the glass and fell through, bringing him down with her.

Glass shattered and they had apparently been on the second floor because they were falling. But Tania didn't feel the fear that usually came with falling. She felt stronger than ever. She had gotten over her fear and spoken. She had killed the leader of HYDRA and saved Steve. What was there to fear in falling? Certainly not death. She'd died once. She could do it again. This was nothing in comparison to drowning. Nothing.

All this ran through her mind in a single second. She registered their clasped hands and the cold, January air. The air felt fresher outside. She could feel the coldness on her skin and she relished this feeling of being outside for the first time in a full week. And then suddenly everything was green and she had stopped falling and everything was firm but kind of squishy if you really thought about it.

She looked up. The Hulk stared back down at her and absolutely, positively beamed so hard that tears came pouring out of her eyes. "Bruce!" She cried. She had never been so happy to see the Other Guy. If he was here…

She turned around alongside Steve, who was sitting on Hulk's other palm, and gasped. War Machine and Rescue were fighting off henchmen near the gate. Iron Patriot and Thor were blasting enemies from above. Clint was firing arrows from the trees. Peter was swinging from the trees and battling minions. Natasha was locked in a showdown not too far away. Agent Hill was a little ways off in a battle of her own. They were all there.

Tania was full on crying with happiness. They had come to save them. They had found them. Steve had been right all along. The Avengers would have come to their rescue, break out or not.

Hulk set them down on their feet before turning and roaring at the henchmen that dared approach him. "Hulk, SMASH" he clasped his hands together and pounded the ground, causing the Earth to shake.

"Captain!" Thor called from above. He flew over them and dropped Steve's shield directly on target. He raised his right arm and his weapon of choice slid straight on.

"That's better," he said to himself.

"Tania!" She turned just in time to catch a gun thrown at her by Clint from above. She nodded her thanks and she and Steve joined in the fight. Just because they were free now, didn't mean they could just leave. This was a HYDRA compound that needed to be brought down. And the Avengers, now fully reunited and with some allies (namely Agent Hill, Iron Patriot, Spider-man, and Sonata) were the perfect people to do just that.

She and Steve fought as one. When she leaned backward to make a kick, he bent forward to throw his shield. When hid behind his shield, he pulled her with him. When there was someone between them, he was done for.

It only took a few minutes for the Avengers to realize that Steve and Tania couldn't hear them when they spoke through the comms. It looked like they would have to do things the old fashioned way. Natasha made her way over to them so that the three of them stood in a triangle, back to back to back.

"The Council's gonna blow this place in nine hours," she told them over the gunfire. "Think you can last that long?"

"I could do this all day," they both chorused.

Natasha smiled at them, a real, genuine smile. "Good to have you back."

**A/N. Sorry it jumps so much between characters. That's just how I imagined it. And don't be upset that Steve was never going to propose, please! A Pepperony wedding will still be awesome! Even if it's not in this story xP**


	37. Chapter 36

**A/N. Le voila! Chapter 36! This one's pretty short too, but I hope you enjoy :D I want you to imagine this like in the Avengers movie when the whole team was fighting together in harmony. Imagine in like the camera is filming all of this in one shot and is moving from one Avenger to the next without changing cameras or shots at all so that it's super smooth and action montage-y. That's how I imagined it :)**

CHAPTER XXXVI

Natasha fired her fun before bending over backwards completely to avoid bullets being aimed at her. The pellets bounced off Steve's shield and he threw it at them, whacking them all like a pinball before returning back towards him. Tania grabbed it midair and swung it around, smacking the faces of three guys who had tried to surround her before tossing it back to Steve and rolling to the side as arrows lodged into the hearts of those same men.

Up in the tree, Clint continued firing, watching the backs of his teammates and family with eyes like a Hawk. Thor flew by and summoned lightning to strike ten henchmen down below, near the Hulk, who smashed them shortly after. He roared before swatting at the Iron Patriot flying above his head while trying to shoot the minions near the gate. He tag teamed Peter who high-fived him before swinging forward by his webs and kicking his feet one man's jaw. He shot a web in the direction of another guard who was approaching Agent Hill.

She hooked her leg around one man's neck and threw him down on the floor before stepping on his body and turning on her heel to kick another man's gun away, where it landed at War Machine's feet. He didn't take notice to it and instead focused on fighting with the guy in front of him. He grabbed him by the arms and flew him over to the roof and dropped him off. But that was when the guy grabbed his ankle and lifted his other hand. Crap. He had the same kind of technology as the guys at the restaurant. With one blast, Tony's War Machine suit was done for and he rolled along the roof.

He groaned. He hadn't had a chance to fix the suit since the restaurant had collapsed on him. He had gone into this battle severely damaged and now the suit wasn't functional anymore. He quickly slipped out of it, regretting not fixing it up earlier. The guy kept firing at him and he ran for the edge of the roof.

"Hey Pep?"

"Yeah?" She responded from her place right below the roof he was about to jump off of.

"You sound like you have a little Stark in you."

"What are you talking about? I don't have any-"

"Would you like some?" He jumped off the roof. Immediately, Pepper's suit came up to meet him, opening up like a second skin and clamping over his body in swift move. He caught himself with his thrusters and shot back up onto the roof, now dressed as Rescue. "I think this might be the kinkiest thing we've yet to do." He blasted the man from before easily before zooming over the rest of the fray.

Over his comms unit, Pepper scoffed. "That was a terrible joke."

"What? I'm literally inside you. It was a good joke."

"You know what I think is a good joke?" Graham asked over the comms. "The fact that now you have boobs."

Tony could hear the laughter from pretty much everybody in his ear and his face turned beet red. Luckily, no one could see it. "Ignoring you. Thanks for the help, Pep, but I got it from here." He flew over everybody else, searching for something to do. "Barton, what do you got for me?"

"Parker's taking on a squad at two o'clock."

"And he didn't invite me."

Tony flew over and dropped down beside Peter and the two of them began fighting side by side. Once he helped with that, he began flying again. "What else you-? Holy son of a mother fucker."

"Tony? What is it?" Steve asked through the comm.

"See it for yourself."

Steve turned around and gaped. "Seeing. Still working on believing."

"Okay, can we stop quoting ourselves now? It's getting kind of annoying," Natasha told them from a few feet away.

"Why not Romanoff? Hang tight. I'm bringing the party to you."

"Just like you said," Steve spoke.

Tony flew over to the tank and got behind it, pushing it into view of the other Avengers. "I-I don't see how that's a party," Natasha commented, shocked at what she saw.

This was no ordinary tank. First of all, it was twice the size of a regular, modern day tank. Second of all, there was no door for people to get in so it must have been remote controlled. Thirdly, there was a giant Chitauri cannon sitting on top.

"Son of a gun…" Steve muttered.

"Okay seriously, can we stop now?" The red headed assassin asked.

Steve turned to Bruce. "Hulk!" The Other Guy turned to him. "Smash."

He grinned and started for the tank only to have it blast him at full throttle. He struggled to move forward. Every step required pushing against something that was pushing back. Hulk shouted in frustration and dug his feet into the ground but he was still getting pushed back. The Avengers watched in awe as Hulk slowly started closing his eyes and swaying. And then all of a sudden Bruce was on the ground, naked, and unconscious.

Everyone stared. That cannon had taken out the Hulk. They were in some deep shit. Seeing as it was the whole reason she was there in the first place, Maria ran forward and grabbed Bruce. She threw him over her shoulder and ran back out, getting lost in the forest probably toward the quinjet to pick them up.

The tank began firing short shots in every direction. Steve grabbed Tania and hid them both behind his shield as they were blasted. Thor tried to counteract the blast of energy with his lightning, but the blue energy went straight through the bolt and straight into the God's chest, sending him flying back really far.

Rhodey flew over the tank and tried to attack from behind, but the cannon spun around and tried to shoot him. He managed to dodge the first two but the third sent him straight into Peter, knocking them both out with Iron Patriot almost completely covering the teenager's body.

The tank aimed a blast at Tony, who flew out of the way just in time only for the blast to hit the tree Clint as sitting in. The tree rocked back and forth unsteadily before falling forwards and onto Natasha who hadn't been fast enough to dodge with six henchmen shooting at her. The two assassins couldn't be seen through the many leaves and branches of the tree.

It was just Steve, Tania, and Tony. Oh wait! Thor came hurtling back in anger with leaves and branches in his usually perfect hair and anger written all over his face. He began swinging his hammer. "You have no idea what you're dealing with!"

"That gives me an idea!" Tony flew up to meet Thor. "Hit me."

"What?"

"With your lightning. Hit me Shakespeare in the park! Come on! Doth mother know you weareth her- oof!" Thor zapped Tony with his lightning as instructed and Rescue tumbled back, flipping several times before engaging the thrusters just above ground. He dropped to a kneel and turned to face Steve and Tania.

"Power at five hundred percent capacity, Sir," Jarvis informed him.

"Well how 'bout that?" he asked, not at all surprised. "Yo Cap! You got this?"

Steve held out his shield and hid Tania behind him. "Do it."

Tony fired his cheat beam at Steve's shield while the tank was distracted trying to shoot Thor. Steve reflected his weapon towards the tank as Tony kept the beam going. The blue energy began to get thicker and Steve and Tania were slowly getting pushed backward from the strength. The tank was turning a bright red from the heat and it started sparking.

"Cap? Banks? Are you two-?" Tony started.

"Keep going!" Tania shouted.

Tony grunted and complied, putting everything he had into the uni-beam. "Thor! Hit me again!"

"Are you sure-?"

"HIT ME GOD DAMN IT!"

Thor summoned his lightning and zapped Tony as hard as he could. The beam magnified and doubled in size. Steve and Tania could feel the air ripping around them and hear the tearing of space that seemed to get more and more high pitched as Tony continued firing. Tania had her arms around Steve's waist from behind and was trying to help keep him steady while at the same time hiding behind the shield.

The tank became too hot. It exploded in a giant ball of fire, taking out the entire compound and then some.

* * *

Tania was blinking in and out of consciousness. All she could hear was a very loud ringing. All she could smell was smoke. All she could see was the back of Steve's shield over her head and Steve's sleeping face next to hers. All she could taste was ash. All she could feel was the cold ground beneath her body (that was curled up into a ball) and Steve's hand woven tightly with hers.

* * *

The next time she woke up, she heard the blades of a helicopter and shouting voices. The grey of Steve's shield was removed and everything was fire and smoke and embers. She coughed and realized that it hurt to breathe and she gripped his hand tighter before she fell back into the darkness.

* * *

There was a loud roaring and she could only assume she was on a plane or something. She registered shaking and bobbing and she could sort of see blurry shapes but she from the colours that the shape over there was Spider-man, the other one was Rhodey, the one with bright red hair was obviously Natasha and the one closest to her had to be Clint, Tony had to be the one next to the one that looked like Bruce and the giant blonde had to be Thor. None of them were moving but that was okay because neither was she. And right in front of her face, Steve was still there. She smiled.

* * *

There was something on her face. She wanted to reach up and take it off but it just felt so nice to breathe easily again and she was really tired. She blinked open her eyes and everything was white. But then it cleared and she saw the walls and knew that she being moved on a gurney or something. Beside her, moving at the same speed, was Steve, also being wheeled on a gurney. He smiled slightly at her. His hand twitched toward hers across the little space and she met him halfway, interlacing their fingers with some difficulty.

"Happy birthday," he whispered.

Her chest shook with silent laughter before sleep took her again.

**A/N. Brownie points to anyone who can name all the quotes I used from the movie and double points to those who can name the scene they're from and who originally said it!**


	38. Chapter 37

**A/N. Hiya :) So there were a total of 13 quotes from the movie in the last chapter (counting two that were altered to fit the context). Congrats to any and all who recognized them :D If you're interested in what they all are, PM me or if you're a guest reviewer, review and I'll post it in on my profile for a short period of time :) Enjoy the last official chapter of SCWCR before the Epilogue and stuff. Again, to all who are reading this, YOU'RE AMAZING! Just sayin' ;)**

CHAPTER XXXVII

Tania remembered everything that happened. Honestly, she did. It was all fresh in her mind and while she was lying in this hospital bed, she had nothing better to do than think about it all.

First, on the fourth of January, she and Pepper had gone to Philadelphia for a business trip. That was the day that Arnold Austerlitz tried to kill her but she escaped and was sent home.

Second, she and Clint had been attacked at the Statue of Liberty while Steve, Tony, and Natasha were in Europe investigating. Clint had killed around ten people that day. And she'd fallen from the top of the monument.

Third, bullets had tried to penetrate the Tower when she was on the party deck.

HYDRA had been trying to kill her at first, but in the end, they kidnapped her instead along with Steve because the opportunity had presented itself after Steve and the others returned from Germany with only the world, "Wizard" and a phone number they could only assume had belonged to Dominik Schmidt.

At the theatre on the ninth, Pepper, Tony, Clint, Natasha, Steve, and Tania had investigated HYDRA's designated meeting point. That was where Klaus recognized her and gave her away. That was also the night that she thought Clint and Natasha might be dead.

She and Steve woke up the next day in the HYDRA base, where she'd tried to break out but had just been thrown with Steve for her efforts (bonus). That was a horrifying week she did not want to remember – but she always would. There had been torture and periods of muteness and death and emotional turmoil but she was out of there. Schmidt was dead, by her own hand. Her first kill and it might as well have been the Devil.

She had to admit that she felt no remorse for killing Dominik. He was an evil, horrible man who tortured them for fun and revenge and he did not deserve to live. But didn't everyone deserve to live? Didn't everyone deserve a second chance? A chance to make things right?

No. Not in this context. He had been about to kill Steve. She never would have let that happen. She'd had no other option. It was either kill the man or watch Steve die. She'd chosen the former and she didn't regret one bit.

It was still hard to come to terms with, though. She had taken away a person's life. She had sent someone away from life. She had killed a person, taken away their hopes and dreams – even if those hopes and dreams revolved around revenge on Captain America. He was gone. Dead. Finished. Deceased. Passed on. Forever. He would never say another word, move another inch, or open his eyes ever again. Not that he had eyes anymore. Or a body.

She assumed that he and any others in the area had been in the explosion. The huge one that had rocked the Earth had nearly ripped her legs off when Steve had shoved her onto the ground, curled them both into balls and hid beneath his shield. Because of this, she had to assume that Klaus was dead to. That he hadn't survived the explosion.

Earlier, she had assumed that the Avengers had all died in the explosion and she became hysterical. But the doctors assured her that they had all survived. How that had happened she had no idea. They'd said that her brain was foggy and that she wouldn't be able to comprehend anything they explained and that she should go back to sleep.

She knew that she was on the helicarrier. This was the SHIELD med bay. She also knew that they had touched down in New York again and that her brother would be coming to see her today. On the seventeenth.

Yeah, her birthday had come and gone and she'd been unconscious for the majority of it. But Steve's wishing her a happy birthday had honestly made her entire day. Even if that day had only been a couple hours long for her.

She was officially twenty-five. But what did that matter? It didn't. At least not right now. What mattered was that she was safe again and Steve and the others were okay and everything would go back to the way it was – for the most part. Nothing would be exactly the same as it was before, but it would be close.

She and Steve had shared something so personally intimate in that compound. She felt like their hearts had been melded together permanently. There was something different about them; a new dynamic to their relationship that hadn't been there before. If anything, Tania would say that it had grown ever stronger, as had her relationships with the rest of the Avengers – especially Clint. She felt like he was honestly her step-brother or something.

So now her bonds with the others (especially Steve) were stronger than ever. She felt like they really were her family instead of just telling everyone that's what she thought of them as. They were her family, just as much as Graham was. And with the help of said family, she knew that she'd be okay one day. Not right away, though. Everything was still too knew. Still too fresh. Still too scarred.

She was dying to know how Steve was doing. She wanted to know how the others had found them. She wanted to know if Klaus had survived. She wanted to know how everyone else had survived. But she was stuck in this hospital wing with doctors who didn't know the answers to the questions she was asking.

Until the door opened. "Tani?"

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Gray!"

Graham barged right in and practically tackled her in a hug. "Oh my God, you're here!" She squeezed him as tightly as she could until he said,

"OW!" and she pulled back immediately. That was when she noticed the bandages. He was in even worse shape than she was.

"What happened?!" She eyed the gauze around his arm and the brace on his other wrist and cuts and scratches and knew for a fact that there was more gauze underneath the blue collared shirt he was wearing.

He shrugged. "I'll tell you some other time. Right now I'm just so happy to see you!" Hu hugged her again and she couldn't question it. She didn't even want to pull away. She closed her eyes, allowing her tears to soak through his shirt, knowing he wouldn't care.

"I missed you so much!" she sobbed.

"I missed you too. But we're together now, and nothing is ever gonna break us apart. Not now, not ever."

"Pinky swear?"

He laughed and pulled back to hook his pinky with hers just like when they were kids. "Pinky swear."

She threw her arms around him again, unable to get enough. "I love you," she whispered in his ear.

"Don't tell anyone, but I love you too, Sis."

She snorted into his shoulder and held on tighter, unable to believe that he was really here. "You're such a doofus."

"Whatever. Happy Birthday."

"Thanks. But my birthday was yesterday," she pulled back a little, keeping her hands on his shoulders.

He chuckled. "Not according to the Avengers. They're dying to see you. Tony brought in all your birthday presents and confiscated a whole room in the helicarrier so that we could celebrate it when you woke up." He helped her sit up and swing her legs over the edge of the bed. "Now, you have some of the least amount of injuries out of the whole team, so some of them are banged up pretty bad." He handed her a pair of crutches and she took them to help herself stand up.

"What are they?" she asked as they began to make their out of the room.

"Well you know what yours are: major burns all over your body and a twisted ankle. Tony was electrocuted pretty badly but other than that he's fine. Peter's got burns just like you and a pretty bad concussion. Bruce has burns too but from electricity, unlike you. Thor is perfectly fine. I mean come on, he's a God. Agent Hill is fine too; a little scraped up, but fine. The agents piloting the quinjet… well, they're dead. But let's not dwell on that. Clint has some cracked ribs, burns, and a small concussion. Natasha still has that bullet would by her collarbone, a new broken arm, and a concussion. Rhodey has one cracked rib that punctured his lung. He's still in the med bay so he can't make it but the doctor's think he'll be fine."

"And Steve?"

"He has really bad leg burns, like you, but a lot worse, and a concussion that's gone away already with the effectiveness of the serum, and his bullet wound is still healing but it should be good by tomorrow. However, the doctor says that it's going to scar, which is a complete shock cause, you know, super soldier! He explained it to me but I kinda zoned out and anyway, his ear is all good and yours is still healing and that's about it. His burns are really bad though, so he's on crutches like you. But unlike you, he's only on them for today."

"What about you?" she asked as they made their way through the hallways of the helicarrier. It was painfully obvious to her that every step Graham took was excruciating to him from the look on his face and she wanted to know why.

"I've got all my ribs broken, a sprained wrist, a stab wound in my arm, my concussion's gone, and a little bit of glass in me. Oh yeah. You and Steve both had glass shards in your skin which the doctors had to remove. Clint did too at some point but I think that was a little while ago…"

"How did you get your wounds? You weren't there, were you?"

"No. There was an attack on the Tower by Justin Hammer and his army of Hammeroid robots. Pepper and I fought them off with help from Betty and Happy. Oh and the police helped too."

"What?! When did that happen?"

"While you were gone." He held the door open for her and she entered a brightly lit, rather large, room full of people she loved.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they cheered and the tears immediately started up again. Everyone was here. Everyone she loved and cared about was here and smiling and a lot of them were hurt but they were all here and okay.

"You guys are amazing!" she squealed.

"We know," Tony answered back with a shrug from a little to her left.

She dropped her crutches and lunged at him, hugging him as tightly as she could and sobbing into his shirt. "Ow! Ow! Okay, ow! Good to see you too, but OW."

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I just," she pulled away and wiped at her eyes. "I missed you."

Tony's wall broke down. "Ah, come here you!" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her to his side. "I missed you too, Piggy."

She rolled her eyes. She missed his constant stream of nicknames. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "Love you, Tony," she mumbled so no one could hear.

"Ditto."

Tania pulled away from him to see Pepper. "Pepper!" The two of them met in the middle in a hug.

"Tania! Oh my Gosh, you're alright! You are alright, aren't you?" She pulled away and began inspecting the brunette from head to toe while Tania laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm… I'll be fine."

"Don't I get some love?"

Tania turned. "Come here Clint!" She opened her arms wide.

The archer grinned and made his way over to her. "Careful! Ribs are still healing."

"Okay." They hugged tentatively. "Thank you."

They pulled apart and he looked confused. "For what?"

"For doing such a good job at protecting me."

His expression darkened. "Tania, I-"

"I don't want to hear it." She began signing._ You're the best and I don't blame you for anything._

He grinned. _No, you're the best._

She rolled her eyes. _Don't start with me._

"Okay, what?" Tony called out. "Since when can these two communicate in sign language? I think they're plotting against us! I forbid it!"

Graham walked up to him and began signing._ I don't think so._

"You can sign too? What is this?" Everyone laughed. ASL was going to drive the billionaire crazy.

Tania moved on to Natasha and opened her arms. "Do I get a hug?"

For two seconds, the assassin didn't move. But then she slowly moved forward and awkwardly opened her one good arm. The hug was awkward and new but it something the two of them had never done before. It was progress.

Seeing Natasha's uncomfortable-ness in this situation, Tania moved on to Bruce. "Thanks for saving me."

Bruce, who looked nauseatingly exhausted, simply stared at her for a few seconds before he wrapped her in a hug so tight she thought the Hulk might be hugging her too. She held her breath so as not to choke and hugged him back, closing her eyes and letting it sink in that she was actually here, and they were with her, and she was safe. It was an amazingly good feeling.

"You're so welcome," he whispered.

Tania opened one arm. "Get in here, Betty."

Bruce's wife joined the mini group hug and they stood there for a little while before pulling away. "I'm glad you're safe," Mrs. Banner said while wiping tears of her own.

Tania smiled at her. Thor enveloped her in a giant bear hug before she could even move and she once again found herself unable to breathe and unable to touch the floor. But she hugged back tightly. "It is a pleasure to have you back, Lady Tania! The others and I have missed you greatly."

"I missed you too, big guy," she managed as he put her down and she sucked in large gulps of air.

Next up was Peter, who fist-bumped her awkwardly. "Welcome home and Happy Birthday."

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

She limped over to Jane. "It's nice to see you again, Jane."

"It really nice to see you too." Jane leaned forward and gave Tania a gentle hug, which the brunette quickly returned before moving on to Erik.

"Long time no see."

He nodded. "Too long." He patted her on the back in a friendly manner. "Welcome home."

Tania spotted Darcy and for some reason Graham couldn't explain, he suddenly felt nervous. No one noticed. Tania stepped forward. "I don't believe we've met." She stuck out her hand. "Tania Banks."

"Darcy Lewis." They shook hands. "Graham's told me all about you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I would say 'likewise', except under such circumstances I don't think that really fits, so I'm just going to not say anything. That okay with you?"

Tania laughed quietly. "That's fine."

Finally, there was Steve, standing with his crutches and smiling softly at her. She limped forward and wrapped her arms around his middle, burying her face in his chest. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he said back, forgoing the crutches all together and wrapping his arms around her. Yeah, the pain in his legs was now excruciating, but it was worth it. He reached behind him and produced a flower: a lilly. He tucked it behind her ear. "If I profane with my unworthiest hand, This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

She laughed into his chest. "Did you just quote Shakespeare?"

He blushed and nodded.

She grinned slyly at him. "Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this; For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss." She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips, to which he returned, one hand resting against her cheek and neck.

When they pulled apart, Steve spoke up again. "I had a whole monologue planned to do in private for your birthday but I didn't get a chance to memorize all of it before today. So that's all I've got, I'm sorry. But Tony had all of your presents moved to the SHIELD base in New York and… well…" he reached behind him again and pulled out Romeo and Juliet with a hard cover and a ribbon bookmark. "Sorry it's not wrapped. I hope you like it."

"Wow…" she took the book from him. "I didn't know you knew I liked Shakespeare."

"When I first met Graham, you told me you liked it."

She looked up at him. "You remember that?"

"Exceptionally well."

She beamed at him.

He nudged her arm. "Open it."

She opened the cover. On the inside was a note in the corner. "Read it out loud!" Pepper requested.

Tania blushed but turned to face the giant circle they had created in the room that was void of everything but people and apparently a giant pile of presents. She started to read.

"To my Darling Tania, I know this is late and I know that you've probably already read this play a hundred times, but if I know you as well as I think I do, you'll never get tired of reading it. I hope that whenever you read this, you'll think of us and how our love has grown over such a short time, and how we cannot be separated nor can our love be broken – not even by death." She sniffled. "I bought this for you a while ago, before I knew what was going to happen, but I still think it's just as effective. I want you to know that I love you with all my heart and will follow you to Asgard and back if you want me too, just because. After this whole ordeal, I realized something very special. I never want to leave your side. I want you to be mine – forever. And I don't think I could survive very long without you. I promise you that I will never leave you willingly and that I will do everything in my power to protect you, keep you safe, and make you happy. It would be an honour to not only sit at a coffee shop with you, but to have coffee with you and share coffee with you. You are my other half and I hope this letter proves that. I love you so much. Your Captain, Always, Steve."

She cried happily as she closed the book, not wanting to ruin it with her tears. "This is perfect," she told him, "thank you." She hugged him again before pulling away and turning back to the circle. "You guys are going to drain me of water by the end of the day."

Light laughter echoed in the large room. By some unspoken agreement, everyone chose to sit on the floor instead of stand, and so they sat in a very large circle like a kinder-garden class.

"Me next!" Clint said, waving his hand up in the air like a child. The pile of presents stood behind Steve and Tania and he instructed her which one it was. She grabbed a shoe box from the top of the pile and smiled knowingly. She knew exactly what it was he had gotten her. They had discussed it on top of the Statue of Liberty that day. Sure enough, when she opened it, there was the pair of suede boots that she had wanted. It was teal coloured.

"They're beautiful," she complimented, lifting them up for everyone to see. "Thank you."

"There's more," he said with an excited grin.

A little more excited, Tania pushed away the tissue paper and gasped. It was a Harry Potter wand. "Oh my GOD! Clint, you rock!" she took it out of the box and admired it. "It's perfect! Thank you so much!"

"Did you really think I wouldn't surprise you after you told me you liked surprises?" He asked with a shrug and a smirk.

She laughed. "Thank you."

"I guess I'll go next," Natasha said. "Mine's that one." She pointed to a small box in the pile that Steve handed to his girlfriend

She opened it and smiled. It was a beautiful hair clip that looked like gorgeous pink lilly on both sides with pearls popping out of the middle.

"How did you guys know I like lillies?"

"Steve told me."

She turned to him.

"You told me the day we went to Bucky's grave. You said you didn't know what his favourite flower was so you got your own. Which was lillies."

"Wow, you're really attentive."

He shrugged. "It's because I love you."

"Awwww…" everyone echoed.

Tania returned her gaze to the red headed assassin. "Thanks Natasha, it's wonderful."

"My turn!" Pepper exclaimed.

Steve handed Tania an actual wrapped present with a rectangular box and purple and brown gift paper. She opened the box and chuckled. There was a headband that was striped with red and blue with white stars dotting all along its length. It was a matching accessory to be paired with the scarf Pepper had gotten her for Christmas. "Nice. Thanks."

Next up was Thor, who handed her a teddy bear with a velvet ribbon around its neck. "I have been informed that animals of the stuffed variety are a good choice on occasions such as these."

"Thank you Thor!" Tania gushed, hugging the bear to her chest. "I'm totally naming him Copper!"

After Thor came Jane, who had hastily bought a sketchbook last minute and said it was from her, Darcy, and Erik. After them came Betty, who gave her The Cuckoos Calling by J.K. Rowling and an Avengers bookmark.

Tony was up next. "According to Pepper, you've met my original birthday present and hated it with the passion of a thousand burning suns, so you and I will just go car shopping at some point and I'll buy you whatever you want, kay? Kay."

Next came Bruce Graham, who brandished a painting Tania had drawn – but as a child. When she was twelve, she had gone outside and painted the side wall of the house they shared with Aunt Gemma. It had taken her several hours (all day) but she had been proud of how it had turned out. She'd completely forgotten about it up until this point. In the painting, it was bright afternoon and Aunt Gemma was cooking in the kitchen window while the grass blew in the wind on the ground. Graham had found it and gotten it framed for her birthday. It was definitely going in the art gallery on the wall of fame.

Lastly, there was Bruce. After so many great presents, he had a lot of pressure to get a good one. And boy did he deliver. He blushed and fiddled with his fingers nervously. "Um, well, yours, I've been kind of… working on in the lab. With Tony's help, of course. And… well… I hope you like it." He reached into his pocket and slid it across the circle to Tania's feet.

She picked it up the small box that was a little bit bigger than a ring box. She opened the lid curiously and was met with bright, shining light. But it didn't blind her. She dumped the object into her hand, only to feel nothing. Yet the light rested above her palm. "What is it?" she asked in wonder.

He cleared his throat. "It's an artificial star. Tony and I manufactured it in the lab to act like a really tiny star in the sky that emanates warmth but doesn't blind anyone if they look at it. It's… um… kind of a pointless gift, really. But it will make a good night light." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Tania gaped at the star in her hands. "And it floats?!"

"Um… yeah. It hovers."

"This is so cool! Thank you! It's amazing. You too, Tony."

"I know I am."

She rolled her eyes. "You guys are the best. And I'm just… I'm so glad to be home. Even if… you know, this isn't actually my home. But with all of you here, it'll always feel like home."

"Wait, we've got one more surprise for you," Pepper said giddily as she pressed a button. A holographic projection appeared in the middle of the room of an old woman.

"Happy Birthday, Tania," she said with a smile.

She gasped and tugged on her boyfriend's sleeve. "Steve, it's Peggy."

He stared at the screen, wide-eyed. "Peggy…" he breathed.

She looked so different. Her hair was completely grey and a lot thinner than they remembered. Wrinkled lined her face and she appeared to have a hunch but her eyes were exactly the same – bright and fiery. She smiled at them through the camera. "It took you long enough to contact me, soldier. You too, Missy."

"Peggy, it's so good to see you!" Tania gushed, trying to stand but failing with her twisted ankle. Steve eventually had to push her from behind (seeing as he couldn't get up either from the burns on his legs) and she hopped closer to the holographic screen. "Sorry it took us so long and I'm sorry that I lost your knife."

She waved it away. "It's no problem, honestly."

"But honestly," Tony interrupted, pointing his finger between the two of them, "you have some 'splainin' to do!"

"What?"

"We know about the time machine."

Peggy, Steve, and Tania all performed perfect double takes. "What?!"

"Jarvis told us everything he knows. Now spill everything YOU know."

The trio exchanged wary glances. "Um… okay."

So Steve and Tania took turns telling the tale about their time expedition. They started with waking up in the forties, and then finding places to sleep, the bank, the train, finding Howard, etc. When Tania got to the part about when Howard had kissed her, she had been totally absorbed in the story and forgotten that Tony was in the room.

"WHAT?!"

Everyone flinched at the volume.

"You kissed my dad?!"

"He kissed me!"

"Same thing!"

"Is not!"

"What the Hell?!"

"Tony-"

"That's so gross! He's like, three times your age!"

"Not back then! Back then, we were the same age! And by that logic, Steve would be three times my age too!"

"Still!"

"Look, I know how weird this is for you, for me too, but it happened a long time ago and-"

"You kissed my dad! Did you have feelings for him?"

"What?! No, of course not! We were just good friends!"

"Yeah, friends with benefits!"

"Ew! Tony! It didn't mean anything and if I'd had it my way, we wouldn't have kissed at all!"

"But you did!"

"Against my will!"

"This is so weird…"

"_Anyway_," she emphasized, continuing on with the story. Peggy added in her parts with the love triangle and with the HYDRA attack, to which the Avengers all had varying reactions of worry, horror, and anger towards HYDRA. At the end, Tania changed her tone to a whisper. "Guys, the world shouldn't know about this. The time machine is destroyed and no one knows how to make another one. No Tony, that was not a challenge. I don't think the world is ready to know about time travel. Can I trust you guys not to tell a soul?"

Nods and murmurs of agreement floated around the room. All of a sudden, Graham began to sing. Soon, everyone started joining in and singing Happy Birthday and Betty switched off the light. Peter walked forward with a cupcake in his hands and a candle on top and handed it to Tania carefully.

"Let's just pretend this is my birthday present to you," he whispered while everyone was still singing.

She winked at him and blew out the candle. The Avengers then burst into For She's A Jolly Good Fellow while she ate the cupcake. When the song was done, she couldn't help but lean into Steve's side and bask in the glory of knowing she'd won.

She'd defeated HYDRA along with all of her friends and family and maybe even saved the world. She hadn't allowed HYDRA to break her to the point where she was as good as dead. She'd been broken, but now she felt whole. Each of her family was a piece of the person she'd felt she'd lost. And they were all together. With time, she would be able to rebuild all those pieces into one big person: herself. But she would be better, stronger, and happier knowing that she'd survived this whole ordeal and come out on top.

With all that she'd gone through, victory was just that much sweeter – about as sweet as the cupcake she'd just eaten. Mmm… vanilla.

**THE END**

**I LUV YOU GUYS! THANKS FOR BEING THE BEST READERS/REVIEWERS *EVER*! YOU GUYS ROCK JUST AS MUCH AS CLINT DOES FOR GETTING TANIA A HARRY POTTER WAND XP Stay tuned for the Epilogue! ;)**


	39. Chapter 38: Epilogue

EPILOGUE

So apparently, as Fury had previously explained, HYDRA didn't have only one goal. After their resurrection, it became apparent that Dominik had gotten his hands on some of the Chitauri technology from the attack back in May. He had been secretly dealing under the table to try and obtain as much alien tech as he could. He'd acquired quite a bit by the time Steve and Tania had been captured and had already been experimenting with it for a little while.

Because HYDRA was already familiar with the properties of the Tesseract (sort of), figuring out the technologies of the Chitauri was little easier than those who had no experience at all. It was with these weapons that they created the technology Tony, Clint, and Natasha had faced in Berlin as well the chains that had been able to restrain the super soldier. It was also with this tech that they were able to make that powerful tank that ended up taking out the entire compound.

With those weapons of mass destruction, HYDRA had been planning something big – however, with Schmidt and all his followers dead as doornails, there was no way to find out what that plan was, no matter how hard SHIELD tried.

As Tania pondered these thoughts, she sketched on the pad she'd received for her birthday from Jane, Erik, and Darcy, who'd gone back to New Mexico a few days prior. On the paper, was a woman with long brown hair in a high pony tail in a SHIELD uniform with blue boots, a red, white, and blue belt, a red, white, and blue headband, and a pocket watch necklace. All of a sudden, she was approached by Steve from behind, holding one mug of steaming hot coffee. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and she turned around from her place on the bench looking out the window at the falling snow.

Her face lit up. "Hey."

"Hi."

She pointed to the mug. "Is that for me?"

"It's for us."

She grinned at him, eyes sparkling, and shifted on the bench so that he could sit next to her under the blanket. He laid his arm on her shoulders and held the mug between them. "So skating was fun this morning."

She laughed. "I hope so. I haven't gone skating in years."

"Me neither. Not since I was a kid."

"I can't believe I remembered all those moves."

"You never told me you could figure skate."

"I didn't know I could. I just applied a little of the dancing I knew and applied it to the ice."

"You looked incredibly beautiful. It was a good way to start off our anniversary."

"Good. So what have you got planned tonight?"

"Skiing of course. Why else would I take you to Whistler?"

"Why else indeed," she repeated back, taking a sip of their coffee. "So are we going during the evening?"

"Mmhm," he confirmed while nodding. "Should be fun."

"Can't wait. Are the others coming?"

"Of course."

After such a long period of separation from the other Avengers (one week that felt like a year), Steve and Tania had agreed that they didn't want to part with their family quite yet. It was the twenty-sixth of January, nine days after Tania's birthday party on the seventeenth. Everything was still too fresh in their minds. So the two of them had elected to bring their family along for their anniversary vacation in Whistler, British-Columbia, Canada. They currently sat in one of the lounges of Tony's chalet, looking out over the mountains through the falling snowflakes.

"So I was thinking," he said while shifting a little on the bench, "maybe we could exchange presents now instead of later because I don't know when we'll be coming back."

"Sure. I'll got get yours." Steve stood up to let her out and she returned a few minutes later with a rather large box wrapped in snowflake wrapping paper and a purple ribbon. She handed it to him. "Happy Anniversary."

He smiled and took it from her, allowing her to sit on his legs (which had totally healed by this point) and open it. He lifted the lid to see a photo album. He placed the box aside and opened the cover while Tania bit her lip excitedly. "Wow…" he murmured, eyeing the first page. It was a black and white picture of him as a kid, all scrawny looking and everything. Beneath it was an inscription: Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. You are all three.

He chuckled. "Wow."

"It's a scrapbook," she explained, scooting closer. "There's a table of contents on the next page. There are two pages for every person you've ever been close to. And then there's a section for your time in the past and a section for your time here. And then at the end I just put in a whole bunch of pictures at random to symbolize how you may have lived in two time periods, but they've come together in one life: yours."

"Wow…" he repeated, flipping through the pages. He closed the book. "You and I can look at it later tonight, in bed. It's lovely, thank you." He pecked her lips with his own. "But right now, I really want to give you your gift. I'll be right back." He got up to leave and Tania quickly took another sip of their shared coffee.

She turned her head to the entrance when she heard his return and gasped, rushing over to meet him halfway. "Oh my God, is that a puppy?!"

Sure enough, sitting in Steve's arms, was a tiny German Shepard puppy. He handed the dog to Tania who cooed and snuggled the cute little thing. "Her name's Rocky. She's a pure breed."

"Oh my God… she's amazing! Where did you find her?"

"She followed me home one day when it was my turn to go grocery shopping. I tried to see if she had an owner or anything. She was too young to not have a mother or a master but I couldn't find anything. I had her tested for everything and I bought her a collar and named her Rocky."

"She's so precious… but you want to give her to me?"

"I'm giving her to us. We'll take of her together and we'll be like a mini family."

She eyed him suspiciously. Was this his way of testing to see if she'd be a good mom? She had no idea if he was going to propose. Of course Pepper had explained to her that the ring had actually been hers and not Tania's, to which the brunette had quickly congratulated her best friend, but she had been a little disappointed, if she was being honest with herself. She had been a little excited that Steve had thought they were ready for such a big step. But she knew she wasn't. Not yet, anyway.

"She's beautiful. I love her." She pressed a kiss to Rocky's head, who barked and licked her face. Tania laughed and swung the dog back and forth. "Oh my gosh, this is so amazing! But isn't Tony allergic to dogs?"

"Bruce has been working on a formula to cure that. But until then, we can keep her on our floor. Tony only sneezes when the dog is actually in vicinity. He'll be fine."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

"What about her stay here? In the chalet?"

"Bruce and Betty didn't want to go skiing, so I asked them to watch Rocky for us."

"Wow… Steve, I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this is!"

"Happy anniversary, Darling." He stepped closer and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips with his hands on her shoulders and Rocky in between them.

She kissed back eagerly. "Happy anniversary, Dear."

**A/N. In case you were wondering, the girl Tania was sketching was herself. Next up is the bonus scene that would be the one you'd see after all the credits have scrolled by. Hope you enjoy :D**

BONUS SCENE

Tania walked forward through the halls of the helicarrier that she was slowly learning the layout to. Her heels clicked against the linoleum floors as she strode towards Fury's location with a purpose. On her head, she wore the hair clip Natasha had given her for her birthday paired with a bright red business suit made up of a pencil skirt, white blouse, and matching red blazer with three-quarter sleeves. Her white stilettos polished off the look as well as the bun her hair was in. She carried five file folders in the crook of her left elbow as she walked.

She entered the meeting room that looked over the many working agents and found Director Fury looking out over the balcony with his back to her. Yet still he knew she was there. The clicking of her shoes probably gave her away. "Can I help you, Miss Banks?"

"Yes, actually, you can." She stepped forward and tossed the five folders onto the table, spreading them apart like a fan. The sound drew Fury away from the balcony and towards the table. He picked up the first one and began to flip through it. She knew that he was looking at her own file. "I have a proposition for you."

He tossed the folder back onto the table. "And what might that me?"

She had caught his attention. Good. Just think of this as a business meeting… deep breath. "The BETA Iniative."

"Beta?"

"Back-up Enforcement for Team Alpha. Or Team Avengers. You pick."

He raised both eyebrows. "Are you saying you want to put together a team of people to help the Avengers?"

"Sort of. See, this team would work for SHIELD technically. But we would only go on missions if the Avengers request assistance."

"We? Are you a part of this Iniative, Miss Banks?"

She nodded. "Under the code name Sonata. Although everyone knows who I am, it would be like Black Widow. Everyone knows who she is too."

"And who else would be on this team?"

She gestured to the files on the table and opened the cover of each and every one of them. "Pepper Potts, code name: Rescue. Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, code name: Iron Patriot. Peter Parker, code name: Spider-man. Graham Banks, code name: Agent Banks. Tania Banks, code name: Sonata. I will also go by Agent Banks unless we're both in the same room. It's the same way you call Spider-man Agent Parker. Before you ask, I already received the permission of each and every member to be a part of this team. I asked Betty if she wanted to join as well but she said that she had no interest in becoming a SHIELD agent or fighting in the field. She said, and I quote, 'someone has to hold the fort while you're gone'. However, she is the one who will operate Jarvis and manage things at the Tower at all times. Also, the five of us all have lives outside of this initiative, unlike the majority of the Avengers who sit around the Tower all day. No offense to them. Peter and Graham have school, Pepper and I work, and Rhodey is in the military. So please take that into account if you ever plan on giving us our own missions."

Fury's lips twitched upward. "Consider it done. Have I given you clearance level seven yet, Agent Banks?"

Her blank face turned into a wide smile. "Not yet, Sir."

He picked up Graham's folder just as someone Tania didn't know walked in behind her. She turned to face him.

"Welcome to level seven."

**A/N. More Brownie Points to those who can guess who the guy Tania doesn't know is. It's pretty obvious xP Especially if you've seen the MARVEL's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D trailers. Anyway, thank you everyone for your kindness in reading and reviewing! Following and favouriting! I cannot even begin to describe how happy emails from fanfiction saying people are doing any of the above make me. So thank you :D**

**Special shout-out to Fellowship of Avengers, Lollypops101, Assassin'sVow2012, and xxdreamloverxx for being totally loyal and awesome reviewers :D You guys have been totally supportive of me, some of you from the very beginning and I'm so grateful for all the comments on my stories you guys have given me :) and to SheepRainbow, who did the same to HCWSR, I thank you too. I appreciate any and all reviews and luv every single one of you reading this. But for now, this is good-bye. I have no idea how I am going to end this, so I'm just going to say, "Farewell." :D**

**THE ****REAL**** END**


	40. Chapter 40:Novella sneak peak!

**A/N. Hey guys! Guess what? I've written a short novella in the Coffee With you series that takes place between this story and the next, so please go read that in order to understand Proposing in a Coffee Shop to Sonata (did I just get you really excited? I'M EXCITED! But the proposal comes in the 4th book, NOT THE NOVELLA!). No, the novella is not all posted in one chapter. It's split up into 6, which will be MOST LIKELY posted one day after another, but don't kill me if they aren't. ANyway, the novella is just little snippets of the lives of Tania, Steve, and everyone else between now and the future book which will take place in late June early July (just like SAACSWCA!). So... yeah. Here's a sneak peak that is NOT currently posted in the first chapter. Enjoy! ;D**

* * *

**February 21st –** "Miss Banks, there is a package for you on the counter in the lounge," JARVIS announced. Tania looked up from playing with Rocky and Steve, who was trying to teach the dog commands in German (she was a German Shepard after all).

"Who from?" she asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"There is no return address, but sources point to SHIELD."

Tania hummed and pushed herself to her feet. "I'll be right back," she told her boyfriend as she exited the room.

"Alright. Be prompt."

She rolled her eyes. "Love you too."

When she entered the lounge, she found Tony and Bruce arguing over whether or not to open her package. She raised an eyebrow. Neither of them had noticed her entrance. She walked right up to them and grabbed the box that was about the size of her Stark issued laptop. Only then did they notice her presence.

"Tania!" they chorused.

She chuckled at them. "I believe it is my mail, therefore I should decide who, when, and where it will be opened." Tony pouted and Bruce looked relieved.

"At least let us see what's inside," the inventor pleaded.

She rolled her eyes but removed it from its position tucked under her arm to place it back on the counter. Tony grinned and Bruce shook his head in amusement but sat down on the bar stool, curious as well.

She began tearing at the brown wrapping paper until she had a flimsy cardboard box with the SHIELD insignia on the top. A sly grin pulled the corners of her lips upward. Of course the others knew about BETA. She'd run it by them before approaching Fury about it. But they didn't know about this – at least, not the details. Not even Steve.

She removed the lid to see a SHIELD uniform, pressed and cleaned to perfection. Tony and Bruce gaped. She grabbed the cat suit by the shoulders and lifted it up high to examine it. It was remarkably similar to Natasha's, seeing as they had the same clearance level. However, there were a few differences because Natasha would carry gun holsters and a utility belt and Widow Bites/Stings and wear fingerless gloves. Tania had a different idea.

It was black and thick, made of stretchy and comfortable material. She rubbed the fabric between her index finger and her thumb, admiring the smoothness of it. The insignia was patched onto the shoulder, like all SHIELD uniforms with a zipper down the front.

Tony whistled. "Damn. I haven't even seen you in it and I already know how sexy you'll look."

She reached over the counter and slapped his arm lightly, a blush spreading on her cheeks. "I'm only wearing it for missions."

Tony clapped once and spread his arms wide. "Let's go on a mission!"

Tania laughed lightly. "I don't think so. But I may have to try it on… make sure it fits."

"Great."

"In my room."

"Even better."

"Without you."

"Aw, come on!"

"Settle down, Tony," Bruce cautioned. "This is bordering on sexual harassment."

Tony sighed. "Fine. Go try it on for no one to see."

"Actually," Tania said as she packed the uniform back in the box, "I think I'll model it for Steve. See what he thinks."

Tony made a noise akin to whining. "You're going to break him."

She chuckled. "He's not totally innocent. You of all people know we've had sex before."

Bruce winced. Tony didn't. "You're still going to break him. I'll bet you haven't done anything kinky yet."

Her cheeks coloured and she quickly excused herself before rushing out of the room toward the elevator. The Science Bros exchanged a shocked glance. "Do you think-?"

"Nah. Cap's not like that. He's more of a, 'sex is for consummating love' type of guy, not a, 'sex is fun, let's fuck,' type of guy."  
Bruce just stared.

* * *

Upstairs, Tania exited the bathroom in her complete uniform, a little self-conscious. The suit was skin tight (which she'd anticipated) but black was supposed to be slimming anyway. It fit her like a glove perfectly (when had she given SHIELD her dress size…?) and she paired it with her black, lace-up, leather combat boots with miniature heels. Around her waist was the red, white, and blue scarf that Pepper had gotten her to match the same colour schemed headband on her head. Her long brown hair was in a ponytail (she needed a haircut soon) and she wore the black leather gloves (with fingers, unlike Natasha's) on her hands.

She stepped into the bedroom, one long leg at a time. Steve looked up from rubbing Rocky's belly and froze. His eyes trailed up her calves and thighs to her torso and finally, her beautiful face. He gulped as heat pooled low in his stomach and Rocky rolled over to walk away.

"Well? What do you think?" she asked, pivoting on the spot for him nervously. He could see the flush in her face and knew she was embarrassed about revealing so much without actually revealing anything skin-wise. He slowly pushed himself to his feet, never taking his eyes off her.

"I think… that's the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

The blush deepened on her cheeks and he could feel his own face bloom with heat but he wasn't going to stop now. He stepped closer to her and took her hand in his, staring down into her eyes. "Really?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Except for one thing."

She visibly deflated – just a little bit. "What?"

He leaned forward and whispered in her ear.

Her eyes widened. "Why Captain, I don't believe I've ever seen this side of you."

"That's the beauty of living with me," he said hoarsely as his left hand fingers trailed up her spine, leaving tingles behind as she shivered. His right hand drifted to the zipper, the tips of his fingers brushing against the skin of her chest. He slowly pulled it down without looking away from her in depth eyes. "You learn something new every day."

When the zipper was all the way down, she shrugged her arms out of the suit and kicked it down her legs and to the side, leaving her in her underwear. He rubbed his hands down her arms and began kissing her neck feverishly, gripping her wrists tightly.

"Mm…" she hummed contentedly, closing her eyes, "and what did you learn about me?"

"That you are the sexiest person alive."

She giggled. "You didn't already know that?"

A laugh escaped his throat and his hands lowered to her waist and pulled her closer to him. "I did. But I got to see exactly how amazingly gorgeous you are in a whole new light."

Their lips met in a passionate kiss as his shirt was hastily removed and then his pants. They fell onto the bed. The rest, as they say, is history.

**A/N. Did that make you want to read the novella? I hope so. But don't worry, no actual sex is described. I don't write that - ever. Anyway, this is just a little scene from chapter 2, the month of February, which you can read (probably) tomorrow. You'll see the format when you see the novella. Happy reading and feel free to review! XD**


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